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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Sales And Use Tax Court Decisions
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Barnes v. State Board of Equalization … (1981)
Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies Is Jurisdictional Bar
Plaintiff filed a complaint for declaratory relief and a refund of sales and use tax, alleging he had erroneously overpaid such taxes and had filed a claim for refund, which had been denied, with the State Board of Equalization. Plaintiff also alleged that certain statutes and regulations were unconstitutional in that they imposed sales and use taxes discriminating against the United States and contractors, including plaintiff, who dealt with the United States. The Board moved for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff had failed to allege facts constituting a cause of action and had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies. The trial court granted the motion.
The court of appeal affirmed. The court held plaintiff failed to exhaust its administrative remedies and had refused to present factual documentation of its claim for tax refund to the Board so that it could render a decision on the merits of plaintiff's claim. The failure to exhaust the administrative remedy available to plaintiff was a jurisdictional bar to court proceedings, so no issues of fact could be decided by the trial court. The court held that under these circumstances it was not incumbent on the trial court to rule on any of plaintiff's allegations involving the invalidity of any statutes relating to sales or use taxes or any administrative regulations relating thereto, under either state or federal law. Barnes v. State Board of Equalization (1981) 118 Cal.App.3d 994.