Opinion ID: 1669566
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Applicability of enumerated exemptions.

Text: The applicability of the various exemptions enumerated in LSA-R.S. 47:305 to sales and use taxes levied by local taxing authorities is addressed in Subsection D(6) of the statute. At the time the medical device exemption was enacted by 1985 La. Acts, No. 901, Subsection D(6) (formerly Section 305(4)(f)) provided: The exemptions from the state sales and use tax provided in this Subsection shall be applicable to any sales and use tax levied by any local governmental subdivision or school board except as otherwise provided in this Subsection. The medical device exemption was not among those exemptions specified in LSA-R.S. 47:305(D)(4) as not applying to local taxing authorities; [26] therefore, by virtue of Subsection D(6), the exemption from state sales and uses taxes of sales of medical devices was arguably extended to local taxing authorities. See BP Oil Company v. Plaquemines Parish Government, 93-1109, p. 14 (La.9/6/94), 651 So.2d 1322, 1331, wherein we noted (in connection with a different exemption) that Section 305(D)(6)'s provisions prior to a 1991 amendment extended exemptions to sales and use taxes levied by local governmental authorities which extension clearly incorporated all of the exemptions listed in Section 305(D)(1), which, in this case, includes the exemption of sales of medical devices. However, Section D(6) was amended by 1991 La. Acts, No. 1065 to provide: The exemptions from the state sales and use tax provided in this Subsection in existence as of the effective date of Act 205 of 1978 shall be applicable to any sales and use tax levied by any local governmental subdivision or school board except as otherwise specifically provided in this Subsection. Without determining the validity of any exemptions placed in this Subsection subsequent to the effective date of Act 205 of 1978, all Acts after the 1991 Regular Session placing an exemption in this Subsection which is applicable to a political subdivision must, to be effective, specifically provide in the title and body of the bill that it is applicable to a political subdivision. The exemptions provided in R.S. 47:305(D)(1)(t) are hereby deemed to specifically comply with Act 205 of 1978. The medical device exemption was placed in Section 305(D) by Act 901 of 1985 and became effective commencing on September 1, 1985. Thus, the exemption neither existed as of the effective date of Act 205 of 1978, nor was it placed in the Subsection after the 1991 regular session. The precise issue we are called upon to address is whether the medical device exemption applies to local sales and use taxes paid under protest commencing in January 1998, subsequent to the effective date of the 1991 amendment. Willis-Knighton contends, and the district court ruled, that the 1991 amendment to Section 305(D)(6) affects only exemptions created after 1991. Willis-Knighton reasons that because the amendment is silent as to exemptions, such as the medical device exemption, enacted after 1978 but prior to 1991, the applicability of the exemption to local taxing authorities must be determined by the law in effect at the time the exemption was created. Because the law in effect in 1985, when the medical device exemption was enacted, extended the exemption to local taxing authorities, Willis-Knighton argues that the legislature intended that the medical device exemption apply at the local level.