Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. v. Dept. of Taxes / Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Dept. of Taxes

¶ 1. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A. (lender) and Sears, Roebuck and Co. (retailer) (collectively plaintiffs) appeal from a superior court decision 1 affirming the determination of the Vermont Department of Taxes (Department) that the parties, who had partnered to operate a private label credit card program through retailer’s stores, were not entitled to sales tax refunds related to bad debts. The Department denied lender’s refund requests because it is not a registered vendor under Vermont law that remitted the sales tax it seeks to recover, and denied retailer’s deductions because it did not…