Louisiana high court: 2015 tax break change unconstitutional

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A 2015 law that scaled back an income tax break Louisiana allows for taxes paid to other states was unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court ruled, striking down a change that raised more than $30 million a year for the state budget.

Two part-owners of multiple companies doing business in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana challenged the law, and the Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower court decision that the law violates a U.S. Constitution provision governing interstate commerce.

But while the state collected millions from the law change, Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson said Monday that Louisiana only will have to return $23,000 to the taxpayers who filed the lawsuit paid into an escrow account under protest.

"We're not looking at a run on refunds," Robinson told House Speaker Taylor Barras, who asked about the court ruling during a meeting of the state's income forecasting panel.

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