Preview:

ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER: B. KEITH SHAKE LOCKE REYNOLDS LLP Indianapolis, IN

ATTORNEYS FOR RESPONDENT: STEVE CARTER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIANA TED J. HOLADAY DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL Indianapolis, IN _____________________________________________________________________

IN THE INDIANA TAX COURT
_____________________________________________________________________ JEFFERSON SMURFIT CORPORATION, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Cause No. 49T10-0002-TA-16 ) INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF ) STATE REVENUE, ) ) Respondent. ) _____________________________________________________________________ ORDER ON PARTIES' CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
___________________________________________________________________________________

NOT FOR PUBLICATION September 8, 2005 FISHER, J. Jefferson Smurfit Corporation (Smurfit) challenges the Indiana Department of State Revenue's (Department) final determination assessing it with gross income tax for the year ending December 31, 1988 (the year at issue). The matter is currently before the Court on the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. The sole issue for the Court to decide is whether Smurfit's receipts from the sale of certain intangibles are subject to Indiana's gross income tax.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY The material facts as they relate to this case are undisputed. Smurfit is a multistate corporation which manufactures and sells paper-based packaging products. Smurfit is incorporated in Delaware, maintains its principal office in St. Louis, Missouri, and operates approximately 150 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States, including Indiana. During the year at issue, Smurfit closed two of its Indiana manufacturing facilities: one in New Castle and the other in Aurora. In connection with these closings, Smurfit sold its customer lists (which included contact information and customer specifications) ("the intangibles") to Container Corporation of America (CCA). At all relevant times, Smurfit was a fifty percent owner of CCA. The owner of the remaining fifty percent was Morgan Stanley, whose main offices were in New York, New York. All negotiations regarding the sale of the intangibles, as well as all transfers of funds and execution of documents related thereto, were handled between Smurfit's Missouri office and Morgan Stanley's New York offices. The business associated with the

intangibles was eventually transferred to CCA plants in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. In January of 1993, after completing an audit, the Department determined that Smurfit owed Indiana gross income tax on the income it received from the sale of the intangibles. Smurfit subsequently challenged the assessment. In a letter of findings dated August 26, 1999, the Department denied Smurfit's claim. Smurfit initiated this original tax appeal on February 15, 2000. On May 16, 2001, Smurfit filed a motion for summary judgment. On February 15, 2002, the Department filed its cross-motion for summary judgment. The Court conducted a hearing on the parties' motions on April 2, 2002. Additional facts will be supplied as necessary.

2

STANDARD OF REVIEW This Court reviews final determinations of the Department de novo. IND. CODE ANN.

Download Jefferson Smurfit Corporation v. Indiana Department of State Revenue.pdf

Indiana Law