Murphy USA Sales Tax Class Action Website is Active

A website has been established for potential Class Members who may want to participate in a Murphy Oil USA class action settlement.

The settlement will benefit Murphy USA customers who purchased a discounted or sale priced item after Jan. 8, 2016 from a Murphy USA or Murphy Express Store. This does not include individuals from Missouri or Texas.

The Murphy class action settlement is set to offer Class Members who registertheir email online with $1 off coupons.

The email registration period will begin on May 1, 2019 and will continue until all 257,500 coupons have been claimed.

Murphy owns and operates more than 1,000 gas stations across the country.

The Murphy class action lawsuit claimed that the company was violating the law in the manner that it charged sales tax on discounted items. For example, Murphy allegedly charged sales tax on the full price of an item rather than the discounted price.

“The additional money that Murphy unfairly and deceptively charges its customers under the guise of collecting ‘sales tax’ on the difference between the item’s full price and the portion of the discount that is funded in whole or in part by Murphy is not actually a lawful sales tax at all, and therefore should not have been charged or collected from consumers as such,” the Murphy oil class action lawsuit claims.

This unlawful practice reportedly occurred in 24 states including: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia.

Plaintiff Steven Holt says he experienced this fraud while shopping at a Murphy gas station in Alabama. He allegedly purchased two Kit Kat candy bars for the discounted price of 2 for $2, opposed to the normal price of $2.78.

However, he says he was charged $0.26 in sales tax which ended up being 13 percent of the discounted price and 9.35 percent of the original price. Holt claims that his purchase was subject to local sales tax of six percent, meaning that the sales tax on his purchase should have only been $0.12.

“Mr. Holt believes he has made numerous purchases using discounts provided or funded by Murphy and is routinely, systematically charged sales tax on the full, undiscounted price of the items,” the Murphy gas station class action lawsuit states.

The recently approved settlement will provide $1 coupons to Class Members to compensate them for any allegedly miscalculated sales tax.

In addition, “Murphy has implemented practice changes to ensure no sales tax is collected on Murphy-funded discounts in those jurisdictions by (a) updating its Point-of-Sale system to not treat Murphy-funded discounts the same as manufacturer-funded discounts and (b) having Murphy’s merchandise and tax professionals meet on a regular basis to review proposed discount programs and ensure sales tax is properly collected.”

For more information, Class Members can email the settlement administrator at info@MurphyOilUSAsettlement.com

Holt and the settlement Class are represented by Joseph H. Aughtman of Aughtman Law Firm LLC; and Kenneth J. Grunfeld of Golomb & Honik PC.

The Murphy USA Sales Tax Class Action Lawsuit is Holt, et al. v. Murphy Oil USA Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-00911-RV-CJK, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On May 1, 2019, the Murphy USA sales tax class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.