Tucson Mechanical Contracting, Inc. v. Arizona Department of Revenue

OPINION

McGREGOR, Judge.

The primary issue in this appeal is whether the legal incidence of Arizona’s transaction privilege tax falls upon the purchaser of prime contracting services and thereby violates the federal government’s constitutional immunity from state taxation when the federal government acts as a purchaser. We also consider whether the Arizona Department of Revenue, in enforcing the transaction privilege tax, systematically discriminated against in-state contractors in its audit selection process and thereby violated their right to equal protection of the law. We find no…