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Combs v. Chevron USA, Inc.

The state's comptroller of public accounts has repeatedly examined scaffolding contracts and invariably ruled that they were essentially rentals even though they necessarily involved nontaxable services. These rulings are entitled to deference. In the current case, the comptroller was entitled to summary judgment on Chevron's scaffolding-related tax-refund issue. Austin Court of Appeals, No. 03-07-00127-CV, 02-05-2010

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OPINION

Chevron, Inc. sued Texas’s Comptroller of Public Accounts to obtain a tax refund. Chevron had paid contractors to install temporary scaffolding at one of its refineries, and the Comptroller had treated that installation as a taxable rental of tangible personal property. Chevron argued that the installation should have been treated as a nontaxable service instead. More than eighteen months after it filed suit, Chevron amended its petition to add tax-refund claims that were unrelated to its scaffolding claim. Chevron then moved for partial summary judgment on the scaffolding claim. The trial court granted Chevron’s motion over the Comptroller’s objection, and Chevron moved to sever its scaffolding claim from its remaining claims. The Comptroller objected to Chevron’s severance motion and also filed a plea to the jurisdiction, arguing that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over Chevron’s remaining claims because Chevron had not fulfilled the administrative prerequisites to suing on them. The trial court granted Chevron’s motion to sever and denied the Comptroller’s plea to the jurisdiction. The Comptroller appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in denying its plea to the jurisdiction and in granting Chevron’s motion for partial summary judgment. We will reverse and render judgment for the Comptroller on both issues.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

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