Want your Hillsborough transportation sales tax refund? You might have to ask a judge

Taxpayers looking for a refund of the transportation sales tax they paid to Hillsborough County businesses before it was struck down by the state’s Supreme Court might have to get court approval first.

The proposal is included in a motion recently filed in court by attorneys representing various government entities in Hillsborough County. More than half a billion dollars has been collected through the penny sales tax voters approved by 57 percent in November 2018.

But the Florida Supreme Court ruled in February the tax was unconstitutional because it specifies where the money should go – responsibility justices said falls on elected commissioners, not citizens.