GEO’s Sales Tax Argument Gets Stony Response From Texas Justices

The Texas Supreme Court seems unlikely to grant GEO Group Inc.'s bid for a refund of nearly $4 million in sales tax on purchases for the government prisons it runs, after oral arguments Wednesday.

GEO wants the justices to overturn a 2023 appeals court ruling that its purchases don’t fall under a state sales tax exemption for “items sold, leased, or rented to, or stored, used, or consumed by” the federal government or Texas. The company isn’t an agency or instrumentality of the state or federal government as required by the exemption, the appeals court ruled.

Justice Brett Busby pushed ...