Opinion ID: 1423852
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Director's Denial of Claims and Administrative Review.

Text: In July 2003, the auditor denied the merits of President's claim that it should have paid no use tax on its purchase of gaming equipment for the periods January 1995 through December 1997 and January 2000 through December 2002. The auditor also denied President's claim that it owed no sales or use tax at all on comps for the period from January 1995 through February 2003. As with the tax period from January 1998 to September 2000, however, the auditor found that President had erroneously paid use tax rather than sales tax for the period from January 1995 through December 1997, and again, the auditor allowed an offset of these taxes. [5] The Director issued final decisions affirming the conclusions of the auditor, and President sought review by the AHC. See sec. 621.050.1. After a hearing on President's claims, the AHC agreed with the Director that President was not entitled to a refund on the use tax it had paid on its purchases of gaming equipment. In so doing, the AHC rejected President's argument that the gaming tax incorporated the substantive provisions of the sales tax law, including exclusions and exemptions applicable to sales tax and use tax. But the AHC held that President was entitled to a refund of the tax it paid on purchases of food and drink used as comps because it resold these purchases when it collected sales tax on meals sold to customers. [6] President and the Director sought judicial review of those portions of the AHC decision with which they disagreed. See sec. 621.189, RSMo Supp.2006. Because their claims involve construction of Missouri's revenue laws, this Court has exclusive appellate jurisdiction. Mo. Const. art. V, sec. 3.