Tax

"The team also... represent[s] government bodies seeking recovery of taxes."

Chambers and Partners USA (2023)

Fishman Haygood has represented the State of Louisiana in corporate income, franchise and sales tax matters for more than 25 years.

The firm was first retained in 1996 to represent the Louisiana Department of Revenue in a corporate income tax case against a large oil and gas company. The case was the first state income tax case to be tried to a jury in Louisiana and resulted in a judgment in favor of the State in the amount of $26.1 million.

In the 20+ years since that case, the firm has been retained by the Department of Revenue in dozens of additional cases involving important legal issues in the area of state tax law, including the use of transfer pricing agreements, the proper calculation of interest expense, the taxation of capital gains from the sale of businesses operating in Louisiana, the taxation of revenues from the sale of greenhouse gas credits, the tax treatment of tobacco settlement reserves and the sales tax liability of internet travel companies for the sale of hotel room stays. To date, the firm’s representation of the Department has resulted in judgments and settlements totaling more than $90 million.

Representative Experience

  • The firm has represented the Department in cases against many of the largest taxpayers in the State, including Texaco, International Paper, Florida Gas, Shell Oil, GE Petrochemical, Lafarge, British Petroleum (BP), Pioneer Natural Resources, Tidewater, Expedia, Barnes & Noble, E.I. DuPont, W.W. Grainger, R.J. Reynolds, Home Depot, Monsanto Company, American Honda Motor Company and ConocoPhillips.