Oil and Gas

Hercules Offshore loses sales tax appeal

by Walter Pierce

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal has sided with the Lafayette Parish School Board’s tax-collection division over a $340,000 bill for unpaid sales and use taxes.

Hercules' Lafayette office
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The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal has sided with the Lafayette Parish School Board’s tax-collection division over a $340,000 bill for unpaid sales and use taxes against Hercules Offshore.

The Houston-based company’s Lafayette office on Southpark Road was sent a bill in 2004 for the unpaid taxes for 1998 through 2001. The actual unpaid taxes were listed at just more than $192,000 with nearly $150,000 in interest and penalties tacked on. According the 3rd Circuit ruling issued this week, Hercules paid the bill under protest and in late 2007 filed suit against the school board for a redetermination and refund.

The board in 2013 asked a district court judge to dismiss the suit due to abandonment, a legal term meaning Hercules hadn’t taken any legal steps to forward its suit since it was initially filed. Judge Jules Edwards in Lafayette agreed. Hercules appealed to the 3rd Circuit where a three-judge panel agreed with Edwards’ ruling.

Read the 3rd Circuit ruling here.