On Tuesday, a California judge dismissed a putative class action alleging retailer Saks Inc. violated consumer protection and unfair competition laws by excluding sales tax from refunds issued to customers who don’t bring a receipt. Plaintiff Nadereh Moshiri had filed suit in June 2014 alleging that, in August 2012, she returned four items without an original receipt to Saks’ outlets in Beverly Hills and Camarillo, only to be told that they can’t include sales tax in the refund without a receipt. In her complaint she argued that Saks retained excess sales tax for its own gain rather than remitting to customers as required by California law and calling the practice unfair, unlawful and fraudulent in her complaint.
“It is the Board of Equalization’s job to assess whether the remitted tax amounts must be reimbursed to the plaintiff and the class.”
Her suit was tossed, because under the California Court of Appeals’ 2014 ruling in Loeffler v. Target, the tax code requires tax payers seek refunds of tax payments from the state agency, not in a civil action.
Tuesday’s ruling isn’t the first time Saks has had to defend its return policies in the courts as in April, a California federal judge dismissed a customer’s suit alleging the retailer violated California law by failing to properly post its return and refund policies at its stores.