PRTA Transportation Tax

On March 8, 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court issued a decision that invalidated the two-tiered Pinal County transportation excise tax levied by the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority. In response, the Arizona Department of Revenue (Department), which had first collected the tax in April 2018, issued guidance (see “TAX CHANGES”) to taxpayers to end collection of the tax after the March 2022 tax period.

Only businesses that reported and paid Pinal County transaction privilege tax (TPT) to the Department for any tax period from April 2018 through March 2022 would have paid the invalidated transportation excise tax that makes up part of the TPT and therefore are eligible to request a refund. The only exceptions are that the invalidated tax was not applicable to the commercial lease classification of the TPT or to the use tax; therefore, no refunds will be paid for any business activity reported under the commercial lease TPT or the use tax. Note that customers of these businesses are NOT eligible to request or receive a refund, and a business that paid the invalidated tax cannot assign its right to request or receive a refund to its customers.

If you operate or operated a business that filed returns with activity in Pinal County and paid the Pinal County Transportation Excise Tax that was invalidated by the Arizona Supreme Court, you may request a refund of some or all of the monies paid, or waive your right to any such refund using a Request for Refund or Waiver of Pinal County Transportation Excise Tax. You must use this request form.

To avoid delays and errors in handling, please do not attempt to submit a Refund Request Workbook or amended returns for the invalidated tax.

No, please do not send TPT returns with your request. Pinal County and ADOR possess a list of affected taxpayers who are eligible to request refunds based on returns already processed.

Only businesses that filed and paid the invalidated tax to the Department are eligible to submit requests. Because Arizona is a transaction privilege tax state and not a sales tax state, it is businesses—not consumers—who owe and pay the tax. Again, customers of these businesses are NOT eligible to request or receive a refund.

The invalidated tax was imposed on all classifications of the TPT, except for the commercial lease classification. The invalidated tax also did not apply to the use tax. Thus, except for those businesses engaged only in the business of commercial leasing, a business that reported and paid Pinal County TPT for any tax period from April 2018 through March 2022 should have paid the invalidated tax.

County excise taxes were and still are combined with the state rate for filing and reporting purposes to the Department. If you had business activity in Pinal County that was subject to the invalidated tax—that is, you paid Pinal County TPT on a business code other than commercial lease or use tax— and filed and paid TPT on that activity for tax periods from April 2018 through March 2022, you should be on our list of affected taxpayers who are eligible to request refunds.

Yes. Please follow the instructions on the Request for Refund or Waiver of Pinal County Transportation Excise Tax form and submit it to Pinal County for review.

The deadline for submitting a refund request to Pinal County is April 9, 2026.

It depends on the nature of the mistake. If the information is regarding the business information or the requestor information, then you may contact Pinal County at (520) 509-3555 or [email protected] to correct the information previously submitted.

As provided on the Request for Refund or Waiver of Pinal County Transportation Excise Tax form, once you have elected one of the three options and submitted your request, this decision is final and cannot be reversed.

Pinal County is responsible for approving requests. Pinal County will provide an email indicating whether your request has been approved or denied.

Pinal County is responsible for approving requests. Pinal County provides the Department with its determinations on a weekly basis. Once approved by Pinal County, you may anticipate receiving a paper check within approximately four weeks.

Pinal County provides the Department with its determinations on a weekly basis. Once approved by Pinal County, you may anticipate receiving a paper check within approximately four weeks.

No. All refunds issued for the invalidated tax will be paid by paper check.

The amount of the refund you receive will be based on the portion of the Pinal County TPT that you reported and paid to the Department for tax periods from April 2018 through March 2022 representing the invalidated tax. Actions you took before submitting your request, such as amending returns, may have reduced the net amount of the invalidated tax that you paid.

If you have questions about the reasons for the denial, please contact Pinal County at (520) 509-3555 or [email protected].

Please complete an Arizona Form 285 and email the signed form to [email protected]. Please include “PRTA Tax Refund POA” in the subject line of your email to expedite processing.

For mailing address updates, you must complete a Business Account Update (BAU) online through the business’ AZTaxes.gov registered account. If you are not a registered user, please download an Arizona Form 10193 and complete Section A Business Information, line 5 and 6, and any other items that are changing. After signing Section C, you may send the completed form electronically to license&[email protected] with the subject line: “PRTA Tax Refund BAU.” You may also mail the form. Please allow approximately 30 days for processing and for Pinal County to be notified of the change.

For Officer/Owner/Member updates, you must complete a Business Account Update (BAU) (Arizona Form 10193). Please download the form, complete section A Business Information and line 2, Section B, and Section C. Once completed, please send the completed form electronically to license&[email protected] with the subject line “PRTA Tax Refund BAU.” You may also mail the form. Please allow approximately 30 days for processing and for Pinal County to be notified of the change.