Prime sues New York State for truck taxes

Prime sues New York state for back truck taxes.

One of the biggest trucking companies in the U.S. wants some of its money back from New York State.

Prime, Inc., which is based in Springfield, Missouri and is 16th on the “Commercial Carrier Journal’s” Top 250 List, has sued New York State and Gov. Andrew Cuomo for nearly half a million dollars it paid in a two taxes that were ruled unconstitutional earlier this year.

The taxes — a certificate of registration and a highway use tax decal — totaled about $19 per truck. A story in the Albany (NY) Times Union estimated Prime could be owned $479,000.

A class action suit filed in 2013 by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association challenged the two levies. A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of OOIDA and four of its members in January.

The OOIDA said New York State could be on the hook for as much as $20 million in refunds.