Douglas Companies, Inc.; Merritt Wholesale Distributors, Inc.; Merchants Wholesale Distributors, Inc.; Imperial…

Summary

The court affirmed the dismissal of wholesalers' claims for refunds of other-tobacco-products excise taxes. It held that the argument supporting a partial refund was not preserved because the circuit court had not ruled on it, and that the full-refund theory was an entirely new claim raised for the first time in the summary-judgment briefing. The court therefore did not reach the merits of the partial-refund statutory interpretation issue and rejected the full-refund claim on procedural grounds.