Rich's Department Stores, Inc. v. Levin

{¶ 1} Before the court is an appeal from a decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (“BTA”) in a personal-property tax case. The BTA ordered the Tax Commissioner to reduce the values assigned to merchandise held in inventory by Rich’s Department Stores with respect to tax years 2000, 2001, and 2002. Specifically, the BTA ordered reductions based upon “vendor markdown allowances,” i.e., allowances granted by vendors that supplied merchandise to Rich’s, by which those vendors compensated Rich’s for having to mark down the merchandise from its expected retail price.

{¶ 2} On appeal, the commissioner…