Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1856 – A.(1) The Louisiana Tax Commission shall give notice of the initial determination of the assessed valuation in writing to the company. This notice shall be delivered by certified mai
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1856
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Company: means a person, firm, association, organization, partnership, or corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1851
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
- Enrolled bill: The final copy of a bill or joint resolution which has passed both chambers in identical form. It is printed on parchment paper, signed by appropriate officials, and submitted to the President/Governor for signature.
- Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
- Property: includes every form, character and kind of property, real, personal, and mixed, tangible and intangible, corporeal and incorporeal, and every share, right, title or interest therein or thereto, and every right, privilege, franchise, patent, copyright, trade-mark, certificate, or other evidence of ownership or interest; bonds, notes, judgments, credits, accounts, or other evidence of indebtedness, and every other thing of value, in possession, on hand, or under the control, at any time during the calendar year for which taxes are levied, within the State of Louisiana, of any person, firm, partnership, association of persons, or corporation, foreign or domestic whether the same be held, possessed, or controlled, as owner, agent, pledgee, mortgagee, or legal representative, or as president, cashier, treasurer, liquidator, assignee, master, superintendent, manager, sequestrator, receiver, trustee, stakeholder, depository, warehouseman, keeper, curator, executor, administrator, legatee, heir, beneficiary, parent, attorney, usufructuary, mandatary, fiduciary, or other capacity, whether the owner be known or unknown; except in the cases of fire, life, or other insurance companies, the notes, judgments, accounts, and credits of nonresident persons, firms, corporations, partnerships, associations, or companies doing business in the State of Louisiana, originating from the business done in this state, are hereby declared to be property with its situs within this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1702
- Public service properties: means the immovable, major movable, and other movable property owned or used but not otherwise assessed in this state in the operations of each airline, electric membership corporation, electric power company, express company, gas company, pipeline company, railroad company, telegraph company, telephone company, and water company. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1851
- Tax commission: means the Louisiana Tax Commission as established in Title 47, Section 1831 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, or its successor. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 47:1851
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
- Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
A.(1) The Louisiana Tax Commission shall give notice of the initial determination of the assessed valuation in writing to the company. This notice shall be delivered by certified mail, return receipt requested addressed to, or by personal service upon, the officer or authorized agent of the company responsible for the filing of the annual report. Except as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 47:1856(G), in the event that the company objects to the initial determination by the Louisiana Tax Commission, it may, within thirty days after receipt of the notice of that initial determination, file a protest in writing to the Louisiana Tax Commission which protest shall fully disclose the reason for protesting the initial determination.
(2) The initial determination by the Louisiana Tax Commission shall become final if no protest is filed with the Louisiana Tax Commission within thirty days after receipt by the company of the notice of the initial determination.
(3) In the event that a protest is filed, the Louisiana Tax Commission shall grant a full and complete hearing to the company at a time and place to be determined by the Louisiana Tax Commission, but in no case shall the hearing be scheduled more than one hundred eighty days from the date the company filed its written protest in the case of public service property. Such hearing shall not be consolidated with any other hearing with respect to any other protest filed in a different tax year by the taxpayer or by any other taxpayer of an initial determination of assessed valuation by the Louisiana Tax Commission.
B. At the hearing, the company shall assert all objections to the initial determination by the Louisiana Tax Commission and may file a statement under oath specifying each respect in which the initial determination is contested. The company may also offer full and complete testimony in support of its objections. Within thirty days following the completion of the hearing, the Louisiana Tax Commission shall notify the company, by the method specified in Subsection A of this Section, of its final determination.
C. Should the company not appear for a hearing scheduled pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A, or should the company fail to request a hearing on the initial determination by the Louisiana Tax Commission, the initial determination shall become the final determination of the Louisiana Tax Commission.
D.(1) Any company that is dissatisfied with the final determination of assessed valuation by the Louisiana Tax Commission may institute suit appealing the correctness or legality of such final determination of assessed valuation for taxation by the Louisiana Tax Commission. However, to state a cause of action, the petition instituting such suit shall name the Louisiana Tax Commission as defendant and shall set forth not only the final determination of assessed valuation for taxation made by the Louisiana Tax Commission appealed from, but also the assessed valuation for taxation that the company deems to be correct and legal and the reasons therefor.
(2) The proceedings in the suit shall be tried by preference at the time fixed by the court reviewing the matter. No new trial or rehearing shall be allowed.
(3) Any appeal from a judgment of the court reviewing the matter shall be heard by preference within sixty days of the lodging of the record in the court of appeal. The appeal shall be taken thirty days from the date the judgment of the court reviewing the matter is rendered. If the appeal is timely filed, any amount of taxes that were paid under protest pursuant to Subsection E of this Section shall remain segregated and invested pursuant to Subsection E of this Section and no bond or other security shall be necessary to perfect the appeal.
(4) In the event the supreme court grants a writ of certiorari, the court shall hear the appeal on the next regular docket of the court.
E. Any company instituting suit under the provisions of Subsection D of this Section shall pay the disputed portion of its taxes under protest to the officer or officers designated by law for the collection of such taxes and shall cause notice or notices to issue in such suit to such officer or officers as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 47:2134(B). However, the portion of taxes that are not in dispute by the taxpayer shall be paid without being made subject to the protest.
F.(1) If the assessed valuation finally determined by the court is greater than the company’s own assessed valuation, the court shall enter judgment against the company for the additional taxes due together with interest at the actual rate earned on the funds paid under protest, segregated and invested, which interest shall be paid solely from such funds. In any case in which a judgment is entered against the company, each tax recipient body shall remit an amount equal to ten percent of the proceeds received pursuant to the judgment to the Louisiana Tax Commission, which shall then forward such amount directly to the state treasurer.
(2) If the taxpayer prevails, the court shall enter judgment against the officer or officers designated by law for the collection of such taxes ordering such officer or officers to immediately refund to the company the amount of any overpayment of taxes together with interest at the actual rate earned on the funds paid under protest, segregated and invested during the period, from the date such funds were received by such officer or officers to the date of such refund or refunds, which interest shall be paid solely from such funds.
G. Any taxpayer asserting that a law or laws, including the application of the law or laws related to the valuation or assessment of public service properties is in violation of any act of the Congress of the United States, the Constitution of the United States, or the Constitution of Louisiana shall file suit in accordance with the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 47:2134(C) and (D). The provisions of Subsections E and F of this Section shall be applicable to the proceedings; however, the tax commission and all affected assessors and the officers responsible for the collection of any taxes owed pursuant to the assessment shall be made parties to the suit. If the suit affects assessments of property located in more than one parish, the suit may be brought in the Board of Tax Appeals, the district court for the parish in which the tax commission is domiciled, or the district court of any one of the parishes in which the property is located and assessed. No bond or other security shall be necessary to perfect an appeal in the suit. Any appeal from a judgment of the reviewing court shall be heard by preference within sixty days of the lodging of the record in the court of appeal. The appeal shall be taken thirty days from the date the judgment of the reviewing court is rendered.
H. For purposes of this Section, references to the court reviewing the matter or the reviewing court shall mean either a district court of proper venue or the Board of Tax Appeals.
Added by Acts 1976, No. 703, §1. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 602, §§1, 2; Acts 1984, No. 106, §1; Acts 1986, No. 596, §1, eff. July 2, 1986; Acts 1992, No. 984, §14; H.C.R. No. 88, 1993 R.S., eff. May 30, 1993; H.C.R. No. 1, 1994 R.S., eff. May 11, 1994; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 74, §1, eff. April 17, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 1149, §1; Acts 2003, No. 791, §1, eff. June 30, 2003; Acts 2003, No. 792, §1, eff. June 27, 2003; Acts 2004, No. 461, §1, eff. June 24, 2004, and §3, eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2004, No. 591, §1, eff. July 1, 2004; Acts 2009, No. 511, §1; Acts 2021, No. 343, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2022.
1As appears in enrolled bill.