Opinion ID: 2575967
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: gallagher lacks standing to challenge the cigarette tax.

Text: The district court held that Gallagher lacked standing to challenge the cigarette tax because he failed to establish any peculiar injury as a result of the challenged legislation and because he is not subject to the legal incidence of the cigarette tax. Gallagher argues he has standing to challenge the cigarette tax according to Young v. City of Ketchum, 137 Idaho 102, 104, 44 P.3d 1157, 1159 (2002), because as a smoker he is not on the same ground as citizens generally, and according to Thomson v. City of Lewiston, 137 Idaho 473, 477, 50 P.3d 488, 492 (2002), because he has a particularized injury that is not suffered alike by all citizens and taxpayers. Gallagher also asks this Court to revisit V-1 Oil Co. v. State Tax Comm'n, 98 Idaho 140, 559 P.2d 756 (1977), and Goodman Oil Co. of Lewiston v. Idaho State Tax Comm'n, 136 Idaho 53, 28 P.3d 996 (2001), calling that caselaw a shameful dodge by a court seeking an excuse to avoid its responsibilities under the Constitution. Gallagher contends that the rule of law outlined in those cases regarding the incidence of the tax and the economic burden does not apply to this case. Gallagher suggests the person who purchases the cigarettes and actually pays the tax should have standing to contest an illegal enactment, not the wholesaler who passes the tax burden onto the ultimate consumer. Idaho Code Title 10, chapter 12, provides authority for the courts to render a declaratory judgment. State v. Rhoades, 121 Idaho 63, 69, 822 P.2d 960, 966 (1991). It is a fundamental tenet of American jurisprudence that a person wishing to invoke a court's jurisdiction must have standing. Van Valkenburgh v. Citizens for Term Limits, 135 Idaho 121, 125, 15 P.3d 1129, 1132 (2000). The doctrine of standing focuses on the party seeking relief and not on the issues the party wishes to have adjudicated. Miles v. Idaho Power Co., 116 Idaho 635, 641, 778 P.2d 757, 763 (1989). In Idaho, a taxpayer may not challenge a governmental enactment where the injury is one suffered by all citizens and taxpayers alike. Van Valkenburgh, 135 Idaho at 125, 15 P.3d at 1133. The taxpayer must establish a peculiar or personal injury that is different than that suffered by the public. Noh v. Cenarrusa, 137 Idaho 798, 801, 53 P.3d 1217, 1220 (2002). Individuals who are legislatively required to pay the tax (bearing the incident of tax) have standing. Even if the tax is passed on to another consumer (bearing the economic burden of the tax) those consumers lack standing. See Goodman Oil Co. of Lewiston, 136 Idaho at 59-60, 28 P.3d at 1002-1003; V-1 Oil Co., 98 Idaho at 145, 559 P.2d at 761. Taxpayers who have a generalized grievance shared by a large class of citizens do not have standing. Young, 137 Idaho at 104, 44 P.3d at 1159. The taxpayer's remedy is through the political process. Miles, 116 Idaho at 641, 778 P.2d at 763. We hold Gallagher lacks standing to challenge the cigarette tax.