Michael W. Gates and Susan J. Gates v. Larry Walther

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas reversed the grant of summary judgment to the Department of Finance and Administration because the Department failed to present prima facie evidence establishing how it calculated the Gateses' net taxable income and resulting liabilities for 2015 through 2017. Although the Gateses admitted some personal expenses had been reported as business expenses, the initial burden remained with the Department to prove the taxable-income amounts before the burden shifted to the Gateses to establish deductions.