By Mike Kerman and Andrew Appleby

The Louisiana Court of Appeals held that a paperboard products manufacturer was entitled to refunds of sales tax it paid on purchases of chemicals it used in the manufacturing process under the “further processing” exclusion. The chemicals met the exclusion’s three-part test because they: (1) were identifiable components of the end paperboard product; (2) benefitted the paperboard by increasing its mass, conductivity, size and strength; and (3) were purchased with the purpose of being included in the paperboard. Graphic Packaging Int’l, Inc. v. Lewis, No. 50,371-CA (La. Ct. App. Feb. 3, 2016).