Southside, Inc. v. Mississippi Department of Revenue Ex Rel. Morgan, 158 So. 3d 277

In June 2011 the Mississippi Department of Revenue assessed additional individual, sales, and corporate taxes against Barry and Sarabeth Artz and their business, Southside, Inc. (Wines, Etc.).
The taxpayers exhausted administrative remedies: they appealed to the Department’s Board of Review and then to the Board of Tax Appeals, which affirmed the assessments on January 16, 2013.
On February 5, 2013 the taxpayers filed a petition in Lowndes County Chancery Court seeking review of the Board of Tax Appeals’ order. They did not pay the assessed amount under protest and did not post a statutory surety bond with their petition.
The Department moved to dismiss for lack of appellate jurisdiction under Miss. Code Ann. § 27-77-7 and failure to state a claim; the chancery court granted the motion.
The taxpayers appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which considered (1) whether the chancery court had jurisdiction given the statutory preconditions (payment under protest or bond) and (2) which procedural rules control the 60-day filing period for appeals from the Board of Tax Appeals.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether chancery court has appellate jurisdiction when taxpayer fails to pay under protest or post a surety bond before filing an appeal under § 27-77-7	Artz: Court should hear appeal despite not having paid under protest or posted bond (procedural defects should not strip jurisdiction)	Dept. of Revenue: § 27-77-7 requires either payment under protest or posting a surety bond; failure deprives chancery court of appellate jurisdiction	Held: Taxpayers failed to satisfy statutory preconditions; chancery court lacked appellate jurisdiction; dismissal affirmed
Which procedural rule governs calculation of the 60-day appeal period: Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 6(e)) vs. statutory counting rule (Miss. Code Ann. § 1-3-67)	Artz: Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure apply and Rule 6(e) should govern computation of the 60-day period	Dept. of Revenue: Court-made civil rules do not apply to the pre-filing calculation; the statutory counting rule controls	Held: Court rules apply only after a pleading is filed in court; pre-filing timing is governed by § 1-3-67. The 60-day period ran from Jan. 16, 2013 and expired March 18, 2013. Nonetheless, appeal failed on jurisdictional ground (no payment/bond).

Khurana v. Miss. Dep’t of Revenue, 85 So. 3d 851 (Miss. 2012) (statutory preconditions under § 27-77-7 govern chancery court jurisdiction over tax appeals)
Equifax, Inc. v. Miss. Dep’t of Revenue, 125 So. 3d 36 (Miss. 2013) (chancery court is the first opportunity for judicial challenge to Board of Tax Appeals’ final decision)
Children's Med. Grp., P.A. v. Phillips, 940 So. 2d 931 (Miss. 2006) (standard of review for dismissal and jurisdictional principles)
Wimley v. Reid, 991 So. 2d 135 (Miss. 2008) (respecting legislative prerogative to set substantive pre-suit requirements)
Newell v. State, 308 So. 2d 71 (Miss. 1975) (principle that court-promulgated procedural rules apply upon filing in the judicial system)