§1624. Interest on refunds

A.(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, on all refunds or credits the secretary shall compute and allow as part of the refund or credit, interest at the annual rate established in R.S. 13:4202 from ninety days after the later of the due date of the return, the filing date of the return or claim for refund on which the overpayment is claimed, or the date the tax was paid. An overpayment shall bear no interest if it is credited to the taxpayer's account. No interest on refunds or credits shall be allowed if the secretary proves by clear and convincing evidence that a person has deliberately overpaid a tax in order to derive the benefit of the interest allowed by this Section. Payments of interest authorized by this Section shall be made from funds derived from current collections of the tax to be refunded or credited.

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section, or any other provision of law to the contrary, interest on a refund of an overpayment of severance tax to an operator whose well qualifies for the severance tax suspension pursuant to R.S. 47:633(7)(c)(iii) or (9)(d)(v) for new horizontal or deep wells shall be paid as follows:

(a) For refunds issued on or before the one hundred eightieth day after a properly filed claim for refund or an amended return for the new horizontal or deep well has been submitted to the department with all supporting documentation, interest shall be the rate for the year ascertained by the department, which shall be the U.S. Treasury Yield Curve Constant Maturity 6-Month Treasury rate on the first business day of October of the preceding year and published on or before the following January first.

(b) Interest on refunds made pursuant to this Subsection that are made after the one hundred eightieth day after a properly filed claim for refund or an amended return has been submitted to the department shall be the interest rate provided for in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph for the first one hundred eighty days and at the rate established in R.S. 13:4202 for any period of time in excess of one hundred eighty days in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A of this Section.

B. As of the date a person files a petition for relief under the uniform bankruptcy laws of the United States as provided in 11 U.S.C. 101 et seq., no interest shall be allowed to accrue as a part of any overpayment that relates to a pre-petition tax period.

C. The provisions of this Section shall govern the calculation of interest on all refunds or credits resulting from the collection of any tax or administration of any provision by or on behalf of the secretary of the Department of Revenue pursuant to any provision contained in Title 26, Title 47, Title 51, or any other provision contained in the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. However, the provisions of this Section shall not govern for the purposes of calculating any interest on refunds granted pursuant to the International Fuel Tax Agreement.

D. The secretary may offset any overpayments of estimated corporate income tax against the corporation's income tax or franchise tax for the purpose of determining the interest due under the provisions of R.S. 47:1601 and any interest payable pursuant to the provisions of this Section.

E. No refund of franchise tax shall be paid by the secretary until any claim of offset filed by the office of unemployment insurance administration of the Louisiana Workforce Commission against the taxpayer under R.S. 23:1733 has been satisfied.

Acts 1988, No. 46, §1, eff. June 17, 1988; Acts 2004, No. 900, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005; Acts 2016, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 10, §1, eff. July 1, 2016.

NOTE: See Acts 2016, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 10, §3, regarding applicability.