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Nevada Wants Meal Taxes

Attorney General asks Supreme Court to reconsider verdict in last month’s Sparks Nugget case.

Monday 14th April 2008

In America, the Attorney General of Nevada has announced that she has asked the Nevada Supreme Court to reconsider a March 27 ruling that found free meals provided by casinos to patrons should not be subject to taxation.

Nevada is currently finalising more than $300 million in spending cuts to its latest two-year budget with the total ongoing shortfall projected at $900 million below original forecasts. The six to one ruling in the case brought by the Sparks Nugget casino against Nevada’s Department of Taxation prompted concerns from Republican Governor Jim Gibbons that this shortfall could grow by tens of millions of dollars.

The decision to ask the court to rehear the case came following a closed-door meeting between the Tax Commission and the Attorney General's office last week with Nicole Moon, Spokesperson for Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, stating that a legal analysis of why the request should be considered would be filed today.

The Department of Taxation has been collecting taxes on free meals provided by casinos to patrons and employees but the Supreme Court ruled that this should not be the case, opening up the state to potentially tens of millions of dollars in refunds. The ruling could result in around $1.3 million being refunded to the Sparks Nugget alone with other casinos having already followed suit.

Requests for reconsiderations are occasionally sought by losing parties but are not often granted. Under State law, re-hearings can be granted if the court is found to have overlooked or misunderstood a relevant fact or if a question of law has been neglected or misapplied.

 


Source: OnlineCasinoNews