News Blip:
Richardson’s RV Defends Delivery Sales Across Borders
The Indiana Lawyer Reports On Richardson’s RV, Inc. v. Indiana Dept. of State Revenue, In Which The Dept. Argues The Dealership Had No Legitimate Business Purpose For Taking RVs To Michigan Thereby Stopping Buyers From Paying Indiana Sales Tax.
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved through Indiana Lawyer's website via Google.
An RV dealership in Elkhart County that used the open road to help certain customers avoid Indiana sales tax, told the Indiana Supreme Court Friday its actions were approved by the state’s statue and regulations. There is a case concerning paying sales tax with Richardson’s RV, Inc. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue. Richardson’s RV, Inc., located in Middlebury, gave buyers, who were not exempted from paying Indiana sales tax, the option of physically picking up their vehicles across the state line in Michigan. The Hoosier state has reciprocal agreements with 41 states that enables customers to avoid paying Indiana sales tax but customers from the other nine states had to pay the sales tax from Indiana as well as their home state. By phys-ically handing over the keys at a dirt lot in White Pigeon, Michigan, 7.8 miles north of the RV dealer, Richardson’s maintains the transaction was completed outside Indiana and therefore not subject to Indiana sales tax.
According to The Indiana Lawyer writer Marilyn Odendahl, "The Indiana Department of State Revenue disagreed. It found that every aspect of the sale — the selection of the vehicle, the financing, the mechanical adjustments and the titling — were all completed on the lot in Middlebury. Driving the RV to Michigan before giving it to the customer was an impermissible attempt to avoid Indiana sales tax. Concluding the RV sales did take place in Indiana and the RV dealer should have collected state sales tax on those Michigan transactions, the department assessed additional tax liabilities against Richardson’s for 2010, 2011 and 2012. Richardson’s successfully appealed to the Indiana Tax Court. In granting a motion for summary judgment, the court agreed that because physical delivery was made across state lines, the RVs were not subject to Indiana sales tax. The department then appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court in Richardson’s RV, Inc. v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, 18S-TA-00022. During the oral arguments, George Plews, partner at Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP, represented the department of state revenue and Randal Katlenmark, partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, represented Richardson’s RV.
For the full article written by Marilyn Odendahl visit The Indiana Lawyer here.