Mauckport, Ind. (WHAS11) - The Indiana Tax Court has ruled that state officials exceeded their authority when using a state tax law to shut down a Harrison County puppy mill.
The judge says the state department of revenue and the attorney general's actions didn't follow the Indiana law that authorizes jeopardy tax assessments when raiding this puppy mill in Mauckport.
Those assessments allow the state to recoup unpaid taxes by seizing property immediately without notice or a court hearing.
When the two owners couldn't immediately pay $142,000 each in back taxes - their 240 dogs were seized and sold to the Humane Society the next day for $300.
