Indiana high court to review gaming company’s tax dispute

IL file photo

The Indiana Supreme Court has granted jurisdiction over a tax case in which a gaming company claims it doesn’t need to include the value of out-of-state payments on its Indiana taxes.

According to court records, the Indiana Department of State Revenue claimed PENN Entertainment should have included in its Indiana tax base the value of certain payments made to other state governments for the tax years 2015, 2016 and 2017.

PENN filed a protest, which the revenue department denied, and the case went before the Indiana Tax Court.

PENN argued it didn’t have to add back those payments and that the department misapplied the governing statute. It further claimed that adding back the value of the out-of-state payments violated the company’s rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Indiana Constitution.

Indiana Tax Court Special Judge John Baker released an opinion granting summary judgment for the state revenue department and denying PENN’s motion in February.

The case is Penn Entertainment Inc. (f/k/a Penn National Gaming Inc.) v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, 24S-TA-382. The petitioner’s attorneys: Mark Richards, Matthew Ehinger and Joshua Schlake with Ice Miller. The respondent’s attorneys: Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and Deputy Attorneys General Lydia Golten, Thomas Martindale and J. Derek Atwood.

The high court denied the transfer of nine cases and voted unanimously on eight of them. Chief Justice Loretta Rush voted to grant a case in which a man’s three-year suspended sentence was revoked.

The appellate court affirmed Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge David Kiely in a memorandum decision last August. The court found no error in the decision.

The case is Jason Edward Taylor v. State of Indiana, 24A-CR-634. The appellant’s attorney: Matthew McGovern. The appellee’s attorneys: Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Anwarzai.