By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
In a legally questionable move, Gov. Doug Ducey is ordering the Department of Revenue not to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales taxes against certain types of businesses that the agency — and even a court — says are owed to the state.
On April 14, the governor vetoed legislation sought by the affected firms to wipe out the levy.
Ducey, in his message to lawmakers, said his concern wasn’t losing the revenues going forward. Instead, he objected to the fact that lawmakers wanted to retroactively kill the law back to 1998, essentially meaning the taxes owed that far back would be uncollectable. The governor said proponents of the change should make the necessary adjustments so as not to force refunds.
