La. R.S. 47:1856 — Notice of valuation; hearings; appeals

A.(1) The Louisiana Tax Commission shall give notice of the initial determination
of the assessed valuation in writing to the company. This notice shall be delivered by
certified mail, return receipt requested addressed to, or by personal service upon, the officer
or authorized agent of the company responsible for the filing of the annual report. Except
as provided in R.S. 47:1856(G), in the event that the company objects to the initial
determination by the Louisiana Tax Commission, it may, within thirty days after receipt of
the notice of that initial determination, file a protest in writing to the Louisiana Tax
Commission which protest shall fully disclose the reason for protesting the initial
determination.
(2) The initial determination by the Louisiana Tax Commission shall become final
if no protest is filed with the Louisiana Tax Commission within thirty days after receipt by
the company of the notice of the initial determination.
(3) In the event that a protest is filed, the Louisiana Tax Commission shall grant a
full and complete hearing to the company at a time and place to be determined by the
Louisiana Tax Commission, but in no case shall the hearing be scheduled more than one
hundred eighty days from the date the company filed its written protest in the case of public
service property. Such hearing shall not be consolidated with any other hearing with respect
to any other protest filed in a different tax year by the taxpayer or by any other taxpayer of
an initial determination of assessed valuation by the Louisiana Tax Commission.
B. At the hearing, the company shall assert all objections to the initial determination
by the Louisiana Tax Commission and may file a statement under oath specifying each
respect in which the initial determination is contested. The company may also offer full and
complete testimony in support of its objections. Within thirty days following the completion
of the hearing, the Louisiana Tax Commission shall notify the company, by the method
specified in Subsection A of this Section, of its final determination.
C. Should the company not appear for a hearing scheduled pursuant to the provisions
of Subsection A, or should the company fail to request a hearing on the initial determination
by the Louisiana Tax Commission, the initial determination shall become the final
determination of the Louisiana Tax Commission.
D.(1) Any company that is dissatisfied with the final determination of assessed
valuation by the Louisiana Tax Commission may institute suit appealing the correctness or
legality of such final determination of assessed valuation for taxation by the Louisiana Tax
Commission. However, to state a cause of action, the petition instituting such suit shall name
the Louisiana Tax Commission as defendant and shall set forth not only the final
determination of assessed valuation for taxation made by the Louisiana Tax Commission
appealed from, but also the assessed valuation for taxation that the company deems to be
correct and legal and the reasons therefor.
(2) The proceedings in the suit shall be tried by preference at the time fixed by the
court reviewing the matter. No new trial or rehearing shall be allowed.
(3) Any appeal from a judgment of the court reviewing the matter shall be heard by
preference within sixty days of the lodging of the record in the court of appeal. The appeal
shall be taken thirty days from the date the judgment of the court reviewing the matter is
rendered. If the appeal is timely filed, any amount of taxes that were paid under protest
pursuant to Subsection E of this Section shall remain segregated and invested pursuant to
Subsection E of this Section and no bond or other security shall be necessary to perfect the
appeal.
(4) In the event the supreme court grants a writ of certiorari, the court shall hear the
appeal on the next regular docket of the court.
E. Any company instituting suit under the provisions of Subsection D of this Section
shall pay the disputed portion of its taxes under protest to the officer or officers designated
by law for the collection of such taxes and shall cause notice or notices to issue in such suit
to such officer or officers as provided in R.S. 47:2134(B). However, the portion of taxes that
are not in dispute by the taxpayer shall be paid without being made subject to the protest.
F.(1) If the assessed valuation finally determined by the court is greater than the
company's own assessed valuation, the court shall enter judgment against the company for
the additional taxes due together with interest at the actual rate earned on the funds paid
under protest, segregated and invested, which interest shall be paid solely from such funds.
In any case in which a judgment is entered against the company, each tax recipient body shall
remit an amount equal to ten percent of the proceeds received pursuant to the judgment to
the Louisiana Tax Commission, which shall then forward such amount directly to the state
treasurer.
(2) If the taxpayer prevails, the court shall enter judgment against the officer or
officers designated by law for the collection of such taxes ordering such officer or officers
to immediately refund to the company the amount of any overpayment of taxes together with
interest at the actual rate earned on the funds paid under protest, segregated and invested
during the period, from the date such funds were received by such officer or officers to the
date of such refund or refunds, which interest shall be paid solely from such funds.
G. Any taxpayer asserting that a law or laws, including the application of the law or
laws related to the valuation or assessment of public service properties is in violation of any
act of the Congress of the United States, the Constitution of the United States, or the
Constitution of Louisiana shall file suit in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 47:2134(C)
and (D). The provisions of Subsections E and F of this Section shall be applicable to the
proceedings; however, the tax commission and all affected assessors and the officers
responsible for the collection of any taxes owed pursuant to the assessment shall be made
parties to the suit. If the suit affects assessments of property located in more than one parish,
the suit may be brought in the Board of Tax Appeals, the district court for the parish in which
the tax commission is domiciled, or the district court of any one of the parishes in which the
property is located and assessed. No bond or other security shall be necessary to perfect an
appeal in the suit. Any appeal from a judgment of the reviewing court shall be heard by
preference within sixty days of the lodging of the record in the court of appeal. The appeal
shall be taken thirty days from the date the judgment of the reviewing court is rendered.
H. For purposes of this Section, references to the court reviewing the matter or the
reviewing court shall mean either a district court of proper venue or the Board of Tax
Appeals.
Added by Acts 1976, No. 703, §1. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 602, §§1, 2; Acts
1984, No. 106, §1; Acts 1986, No. 596, §1, eff. July 2, 1986; Acts 1992, No. 984, §14;
H.C.R. No. 88, 1993 R.S., eff. May 30, 1993; H.C.R. No. 1, 1994 R.S., eff. May 11, 1994;
Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 74, §1, eff. April 17, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 1149, §1; Acts
2003, No. 791, §1, eff. June 30, 2003; Acts 2003, No. 792, §1, eff. June 27, 2003; Acts 2004,
No. 461, §1, eff. June 24, 2004, and §3, eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2004, No. 591, §1, eff. July
1, 2004; Acts 2009, No. 511, §1; Acts 2021, No. 343, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2022.
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As appears in enrolled bill.