Mississippi: Refund of Ad Valorem Taxes

The Mississippi Attorney General has issued an opinion that a county board of supervisors may issue a refund of erroneously paid ad valorem taxes that were paid in protest by an exempt entity. The exempt entity made payments for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 tax year in February of 2010 and requested a refund of the taxes paid in protest on October 17, 2012. A county board of supervisors has the authority to issue a refund of excess or erroneously collected taxes paid within three years of the date the petition for such refund is filed with the tax collector. Miss. Code Ann.§ 27-73-7 authorizes a tax collector, upon request by a taxpayer, and upon order of the board of supervisors, to refund erroneously paid taxes. The statute of limitations for such a refund of ad valorem taxes is controlled by Miss. Code Ann.§ 15-1-49, which requires that a refund of ad valorem taxes may only be issued for payments that were made within three years of the date the petition for a refund was filed.