City of Atlanta v. Barnes

Benham, Justice.

The City of Atlanta (hereinafter “Atlanta”) imposes an occupation tax, the coverage of which includes attorneys who maintain an office and practice law within Atlanta. In 1999, a group of such attorneys, the Barnes appellees, filed a demand for refund of the taxes they had paid for 1996,1997, and 1998, asserting that the tax was an unconstitutional regulation of the practice of law. One year later, the refund demand not having been acted upon, they sued Atlanta, again alleging that the occupation tax was an unconstitutional precondition on the practice of law, and seeking a…