Tennessee Department of Revenue shares report on franchise tax refunds [Video]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Governor Bill Lee and his cabinet spent the past several days in hearings focusing on the states 2025-‘26 fiscal year budget.

Lee heard from his Department of Revenue, the cabinet tasked with processing tax payers who requested refunds from the state under a franchise tax bill passed in 2024.

The bill was a hot button topic last session as the state informed lawmakers a loophole in state tax code could leave Tennessee open to lawsuits by businesses looking to claw back funds.

“We’ve approached this project with three main goals, first is to be accurate and by that I mean the amount refunded is based on tax refunds verified by the taxpayer and by our own records, to be efficient and user friendly,” said Commissioner David Gerregano.

As of the presentation Wednesday, 46,864 claims had been processed to the tune of $938 million.

In total, nearly …