Kawa v. Wakefern Food Corp. Shoprite Supermarkets, Inc.

24 N.J. Tax 444, 2009 N.J. Super. LEXIS 149
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJune 8, 2009
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 24 N.J. Tax 444 (Kawa v. Wakefern Food Corp. Shoprite Supermarkets, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kawa v. Wakefern Food Corp. Shoprite Supermarkets, Inc., 24 N.J. Tax 444, 2009 N.J. Super. LEXIS 149 (N.J. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

AXELRAD, P.J.A.D.

Plaintiff Elizabeth Kawa, for herself and others similarly situated, appeals from summary judgment dismissal of her Consumer Fraud Act class action suit with prejudice for failure to state a claim against defendant supermarkets (collectively Shoprite) for allegedly collecting more sales tax than is required by the Sales and Use Tax Act. She renews the arguments made to the Tax Court. We affirm substantially for the reasons set forth by Judge Menyuk in her comprehensive published opinion. Kawa v. Wakefern Food Corp. Shoprite Supermarkets, Inc., 24 N.J.Tax 39 (2008). We add the following comments.

This case arose as a class action complaint alleging plaintiff made several purchases from Shoprite from February 8, 2002 to February 18, 2005, and was overcharged $2.57 on sale and gratuitous items in which store coupons and the store’s Price Plus card was used. Plaintiffs complaint cites a Division of Taxation regulation and a publication indicating that store coupons and store cards resulting in discounts require the collection of sales tax only on the discounted amount, as compared to manufacturer’s coupons in which the vendor must collect sales tax on the full price of the item. Plaintiff alleges defendants overcharged her and members of the putative class by improperly calculating sales tax based on [447]*447the regular price of all items purchased in violation of the Consumer Fraud Act (CFA), N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -20, and that such conduct also constituted a breach of fiduciary duty, common law fraud and negligent taxation.2

It was undisputed defendants had remitted all sales tax collected to the State of New Jersey as required by statute and regulations promulgated by the New Jersey Division of Taxation (Division). See, e.g., N.J.S.A. 54:32B-17(a) and -18 (under the provisions of the Sales and Use Tax Act, sellers such as defendants are required to file monthly returns and “at the time of filing such return, pay to the director the taxes imposed by this act as well as all other moneys collected by such person acting or purporting to act under the provisions of this act”). Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, accepting for purposes of the motion that they collected excess sales tax during the subject period. They contended, however, that plaintiffs claims did not amount to a reimbursement for wrongly collected taxes, but rather a claim for refund of overpaid sales tax and that the Legislature had created an exclusive remedy for such claims. That remedy was to make a refund claim to the Division as provided by the Sales and Use Tax Act (SUTA), N.J.S.A. 54:32B-1 to -29, the State Uniform Tax Procedure Law (SUTPL), N.J.S.A. 54:48-1 to 54:53-18, and the regulations promulgated under those statutes, specifically N.J.S.A 54:32B-20(a) and N.J.A.C. 18:2-5.8(d)(2).3 Defendants further contended there was a direct and unavoidable [448]*448conflict between the design of the tax statutes enacted by the Legislature for the refund of overpaid sales tax under the SUTA and the purpose and remedies under the CFA that precludes plaintiffs claims under the CFA.

Judge Menyuk recognized that on its face, N.J.S.A. 54:32B-20(a) deals only with the obligation of the Director, Division of Taxation (Director) to refund overpaid sales tax either to customers or to persons required to collect tax, does not mandate a claimant to apply to the Director for a refund (“application may be made”) and is silent as to the obligation of a vendor to its customer. Id. at 47. The Tax Court judge then analyzed the legislative and regulatory scheme of the SUTA and SUTPL, as well as the purpose and remedies available under the CFA. She concluded, in a cogent opinion, the Legislature intended that plaintiffs exclusive remedy for the refund of excess sales tax after that money had been remitted to the state was to seek a refund from the Director as provided by N.J.S.A. 54:32B-20(a).4 Kawa, supra, 24 N.J.Tax at 54.

The court reasoned that despite the broad applicability of the remedial provisions of the CFA, the relief plaintiff sought thereun[449]*449der of recovering overpaid sales tax from the vendor would produce a “direct and unavoidable conflict” with the regulated practice of the agency having the delegated exclusive jurisdiction and taxing power, which “lies at the heart of government.” Id. at 51, 52 (citations omitted). Thus, under the case law, the presumption the CPA applied to an otherwise covered activity was overcome. Id. at 49-51; see Lemelledo v. Beneficial Mngmt. Corp., 150 N.J. 255, 270, 696 A.2d 546 (1997). Moreover, the jurisdiction of the Division was considered exclusive because the refund remedy “which the agency was empowered to grant [was] the only available remedy for the given situation.” Kawa, supra, 24 N.J.Tax at 50-51 (quoting Smerling v. Hannh’s Entm’t, Inc., 389 N.J.Super. 181, 187 (App.Div.2006) (internal citations omitted)).

Judge Menyuk elaborated:

In enacting the Sales and Use Tax Act, the Legislature delegated to the Director both general and specific powers intended to effectuate the administration and collection of the sales tax, which is a significant source of State tax revenue. The Sales and Use Tax Act, together with the regulations promulgated by the Director pursuant to the authority granted her by the act, “deal specifically, concretely, and pervasively with” the activity of collecting and refunding sales tax monies and imply “a legislative intent not to subject parties to multiple regulations that, as applied, will work at cross purposes.” Lemelledo, supra, 150 N.J. at 270, 696 A.2d 546.
[Kawa, supra, 24 N.J.Tax at 52.]

With reference to specific provisions of the SUTA, the court found the Division has exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance to determine whether a transaction is taxable or not, to determine the price on which the tax should be calculated, to determine the correct amount of the tax, and to refund the tax that has been overpaid and remitted to the Director pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:32B-20(a). Id. at 51. The court noted the legislative determination that receipts from sales of tangible personal property are presumptively taxable under the SUTA, with the burden of proof that such receipt is not taxable on the person required to collect the tax or the customer. Id. at 52 (citing N.J.S.A. 54:32B-12(b)). Judge Menyuk explained, “[ijn sum, the design of the [SUTA] is for vendors to collect the tax even where there is some doubt as to taxability, and for vendors, acting as trustees of the State, to remit all monies collected under authority of the statute, whether cor[450]*450rectly or incorrectly, intentionally or negligently, to the State....” Id. at 53. Accordingly, defendants were obligated to pay over all collected sales tax monies to the Director with their returns, even potentially overpaid taxes, by virtue of N.J.S.A.

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24 N.J. Tax 444, 2009 N.J. Super. LEXIS 149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kawa-v-wakefern-food-corp-shoprite-supermarkets-inc-njsuperctappdiv-2009.