Amended Class Action Suit Alleges that Private Auditing Firm Committed Multiple Violations of Alabama Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights
State and Local Tax Bulletin - Alabama Edition
The two Alabama taxpayers who filed an eye-opening class action suit against the best-known private contract auditing firm in Alabama recently filed a second amended and restated class action complaint in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. Washer & Refrigeration Supply Co., Inc. and David L. Smith et al. v. PRA Government Services, LLC, et al., CV 2010-903417 (Aug. 11, 2011). A hearing was held before Circuit Judge Robert Vance last week. One of the defendants, PRA Government Services, doing business as “Revenue Discovery Systems” or “AlaTax” and its affiliates (“AlaTax”), is by far the largest private auditing firm in Alabama, collecting and administering various taxes for over 250 local jurisdictions within the state. Co-plaintiff David Smith is a shareholder and President of Washer & Refrigeration Supply Company who had liens filed by the defendants on his real and personal property for taxes allegedly owed by the company, apparently without ever having received a personal assessment for those taxes.
The amended complaint adds two new taxpayer-plaintiffs, Funsource, Inc. and Hollywood Pool & Spa, Inc., and also adds the City of Warrior, Alabama as a co-defendant. In adding the City of Warrior, the plaintiffs seek certification of a defendant class consisting of that municipality and all other taxing authorities in Alabama that have participated in AlaTax’s multi-jurisdictional audits of any of the class plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are represented by McCallum, Hoaglund, Cook & Irby, LLP and Johnston, Barton, Proctor & Rose LLP, both of Birmingham.
