Mississippi Department of Revenue v. Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc., 131 So. 3d 1192

Isle of Capri and affiliated entities filed combined Mississippi corporate income and franchise tax returns for 2004–2007; four affiliates held Mississippi gaming licenses and paid monthly license fees.
Isle of Capri used the license-fee payments as credits against the affiliated group’s combined income tax liability for 2007 and amended 2004–2006 returns similarly.
Mississippi Department of Revenue audited and assessed $4,181,706 in tax, penalties, and interest, arguing each license credit could offset only the tax of the entity that paid the license fee.
Board of Review and Board of Tax Appeals affirmed the assessment (with minor changes); Isle of Capri appealed to chancery court and posted a statutory bond for half the assessment.
Chancery court granted summary judgment for Isle of Capri, holding the bond satisfied statutory requirements and the license credits could offset the combined group liability; Department appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Bond sufficiency under Miss. Code § 27-77-7(3)	Bond, read as a whole, binds surety to pay Department and thus is conditioned on judgment	Bond language is defective because it does not expressly condition payment on a court "judgment" (Board of Tax Appeals issues orders)	Bond was enforceable and satisfied statutory condition; chancery court had jurisdiction
Application of gaming license tax credits	Credits paid by licensees may be applied against the entire affiliated group's combined tax liability because each member is jointly and severally liable	Credits apply only to the individual licensee’s income tax liability; excess credit cannot offset other affiliates	Court followed General Motors: credits may offset the combined group's tax liability because each member is jointly and severally liable on the combined return

General Motors Corp. v. Mississippi State Tax Commission, 510 So.2d 498 (Miss. 1987) (permits a credit earned by one affiliate to offset the consolidated/combined group's tax because affiliates are jointly and severally liable)
Jones County Sch. Dist. v. Mississippi Dep’t of Revenue, 111 So.3d 588 (Miss. 2013) (standards for reviewing administrative agency interpretations of law)
5K Farms v. Mississippi Dep’t of Revenue, 94 So.3d 221 (Miss. 2012) (statutory appeal bond requirement relates to chancery court jurisdiction)
Buffington v. Mississippi State Tax Commission, 43 So.3d 450 (Miss. 2010) (agency statutory interpretation reviewed de novo with deference but no yielding to contrary unambiguous statutory text)