THE SUPREME COURT OF TEXAS REQUESTS FULL BRIEFING ON THE MERITS FOR RYAN DIRECTIONAL
January 29, 2019
NABORS DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES USA, INC., SUCCESSOR BY MERGER TO RYAN DIRECTIONAL SERVICES, INC. V. HEGAR
Nabors Drilling Technologies USA, Inc., successor by merger to Ryan Directional Services, Inc. (“Ryan Directional”), represented by Doug Sigel, Rich Moore, and Josh Veith, as well as the Comptroller, were requested to submit full briefing on the merits by the Supreme Court of Texas.
Ryan Directional provided directional drilling services to customers at their oil and gas drilling sites inside and outside of Texas.
The three issues to be briefed for the Supreme Court of Texas are as follows:
- Is the drilling equipment at issue exempt under the industry-specific exemption in Tax Code § 151.324(b) or did the court of appeals’ requirements imposed on the exemption correctly disregard the drilling industry’s economic realities?
- Did the court of appeals correctly reverse the trial court and correctly impose additional requirements on the temporary storage exemption in Tax Code § 151.330(b)?
- Did the court of appeals (a) correctly restrict how the Comptroller, Texas taxpayers, administrative law judges in tax hearings, and courts can calculate sales and use tax refunds after a sample and projection audit and (b) correctly bar the use of the Comptroller’s sampling methodology to calculate a refund after an assessment is paid?
For more information or to discuss similar issues, please contact:
Doug Sigel
Practice Group Leader, Sales & Use and Income Tax
512-459-6611
doug.sigel@ryanlawyers.com
Rich Moore
Associate, Sales & Use and Income Tax
512-459-6613
richard.moore@ryanlawyers.com
Josh Veith
Associate, Sales & Use and Income Tax
512-459-6614
josh.veith@ryanlawyers.com
Ryan Law