Opinion ID: 853576
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Jurisdiction of the Tax Court

Text: The Tax Court identified a number of reasons why in its view this case should be presented directly to the Tax Court, notwithstanding the absence of any specific grant of jurisdiction. In general, these track the considerations outlined in Sproles that favor concentration of tax litigation in one forum with expertise and avoiding inconsistent results on issues of significance to financing state and local government statewide. The sound policy reasons supporting the Tax Court's direct jurisdiction also argue in favor of requiring exhaustion of the refund procedure, because that process ultimately brings the case to the Tax Court. If the legislature wishes to confer original jurisdiction on the Tax Court to entertain claims of unconstitutional taxation, it is of course free to do so. The current statutory framework limits access to the Tax Court to specified procedural channels. For the reasons discussed in Sproles, it is not irrational to require plaintiffs who wish to present such a claim to proceed through the administrative apparatus the legislature has set up to deal with tax disputes, even if the ultimate constitutional issue may be resolved only at the Tax Court stage. That requirement assures that an adequate record is developed and that nonconstitutional issues that may moot the constitutional challenge will be considered. The advantages of consolidating the litigation in a forum with expertise are retained. If the cost in time and effort imposed by this procedure is too great, the remedy lies with the General Assembly. Finally, the Tax Court held that Lake County, but not the other non-taxpayer petitioners, had standing to pursue this claim. Because we have concluded that the tax court has jurisdiction only to the extent granted by statute, the claims of Lake County and the other governmental entities and officials must also be dismissed. None of these petitioners sought review of an order of the State Board or otherwise meets the jurisdictional requirements of the Tax Court. Thus, we need not address whether they have standing to pursue this claim.