GEO Group’s $4 Million Tax Case to Go Before Texas Supreme Court

The Texas Supreme Court will review whether GEO Group Inc. is an instrumentality or agency of the government, thus making the private prison operator eligible for a nearly $4 million sales tax refund.

GEO sought the state justices’ review after an appeals court found last year that the company isn’t controlled by state and federal governments and has an independent role in managing its property and operations. The Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals held that GEO’s purchases for the prisons it runs don’t fall under a state sales tax exemption for “items sold, leased, or rented to, or stored, ...