Ragland v. Arkansas Valley Coal Services, Inc.

Darrell Hickman, Justice.

The question presented is whether machinery used by the appellee, Arkansas Valley Coal Services, Inc., to crush and blend coal qualifies for an exemption allowed by Arkansas’s compensating (or use) tax law. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 84-3106 (D) (2) (Repl. 1980). The statute exempts equipment or machinery directly used in manufacturing and specifies mining as a type of manufacturing. Arkansas Valley paid a use tax of $2,383.14 under protest. The trial court held that Arkansas Valley was an integral part of the coal mining industry within the meaning of the statute and…