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Appellant Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Facility (the Facility) seeks a refund of roughly $24,000,000 from the Comptroller for taxes it claims it paid. The tax at issue is the maintenance tax surcharge paid by insurance companies that write workers’ compensation insurance policies. See Tex. Ins. Code Ann. art. 5.76-5, � 10(a)(1) (West Supp. 2002). Although the Facility was an association of workers’ compensation insurance companies, it was not an insurance company itself and thus was not subject to the tax. See id. � 10(a). It was, however, required to reimburse its member companies for the taxes they paid. See 28 Tex. Admin. Code � 1.411 (1993) (repealed) (“Rule 1.411″). *fn2 The Facility asserts that it is entitled to a refund because: (1) it effectively paid the tax by reimbursing the member companies even though it was not subject to the tax; and (2) the Department of Insurance exceeded its authority by adopting Rule 1.411, which required the Facility to reimburse the companies for the tax when the Facility was not itself subject to the tax under article 5.76-5, section 10(a). See Tex. Ins. Code Ann. art. 5.76-5, � 10(a) (West Supp. 2002).

We hold that: (1) the member insurance companies, not the Facility, paid the tax; (2) Rule 1.411 is valid and the Facility’s reimbursement obligation was a lawful component of the legislative scheme under which the Facility operated; (3) the Facility’s role in reimbursing its servicing companies does not convert the Facility into a taxpayer; and (4) the Facility has not met the statutory prerequisite for a tax refund. We therefore reject the Facility’s claim for a tax refund and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Involuntary Market

 
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