Sunoco’s $150 Million Tax Refund Fight Rejected by Fifth Circuit

Energy Transfer Partners’ Sunoco Inc. was again denied in their challenge to obtain a nearly $150 million refund on tax overpayments because the company’s matter was already decided in a previous case, the Fifth Circuit said.

Sunoco, a large producer and distributor of blended fuels, claimed fuel mixture tax credits which it utilized to reduce their fuel excise tax liabilities. In 2015 the company filed suit against the IRS, seeking over $300 million for excise taxes paid from 2005 to 2008. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with the IRS in 2018, finding that Sunoco ...