Sunoco Asks NY Court for Franchise Tax Refund on Oil Exchanges

A Sunoco LP subsidiary wants a New York appeals court to reject the state’s denial of a $2.64 million refund of corporation franchise tax based on how certain oil transfers are treated.

At issue are “buy/sell transactions” where Sunoco would buy inventory from another oil company to fulfill a customer order because the other company’s oil was closer to the customer, thereby reducing transportation costs. In exchange, Sunoco would sell the same amount of oil to the other company in a different location.

A divided New York Tax Appeals Tribunal panel ruled in 2024 that these transactions were exchanges of ...