World's top businesses, Lee Company receive biggest Tennessee tax rebates
The Lee Company, owned by Gov. Bill Lee's family. received Tennessee's biggest business tax rebate. Lee's office has consistently said his company interest is in a blind trust. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Some of the world's largest companies and the governor's family business received Tennessee's biggest new business tax rebate, according to a listing released by the Department of Revenue.
Lee Company, a mechanical engineering and HVAC, plumbing and electrical services company owned by Gov. Bill Lee's family, joined Amazon, FedEx, Nissan, Hankook Tire, 84 Lumber, AT&T and utilities such as Atmos Energy and Alabama Power in netting franchise and excise tax rebates of more than $10,000 each created by a 2024 state law. Memphis-based FedEx, with 13 subsidiaries, landed the maximum rebate for each one, and Japanese-owned Nissan filed for six subsidiaries that each received the rebate.
A governor's spokesperson did not respond to questions Monday, but his office consistently says he put his interest in Lee Company into a blind trust during his governorship, though he could benefit when he leaves the post late in 2026.
Other notable companies among the 16,000 receiving the state's maximum break in its business property tax include Bridgestone, Ingram Partners, Aegis Sciences, Ajax Turner, Ascension Care, BNSF Railway Co., Carhartt Inc., Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola Bottling, Denso Manufacturing, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Gannett Co., Frito-Lay Inc., Pilot and Pilot Travel Centers and Brown-Forman, the owner of Jack Daniel's.
Popular Nashville spots such as Frothy Monkey, Jeff Ruby's, Von Elrod's and Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie Bar took the rebate as well.
In all, about 60,000 companies received three-year refunds ranging from less than $750 to between $750 and $10,000.
The estimated $1.5 billion in refunds and tax cuts, a large number of them made to out-of-state companies, appears to be having an immediate impact on the state budget. Tennessee's business tax collections on property and earnings are $335 million short of projections through the first four months of the year — 11% off the mark — according to the Department of Finance and Administration. The tax cut amounts to more than $400 million annually.
Tennessee lawmakers approved the refunds and franchise tax break in 2024 when Department of Revenue officials said the state faced legal threats over its business taxes.
Despite the shortfall, Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said in a Monday statement: 'I believe now, as I did at the time, that the rebates were the most responsible course due to the strong probability that the state would be in a worse fiscal position after impending litigation. Based on the advice of the attorney general, we were simply not willing to take that kind of risk with Tennessee's financial future on the line and I stand by that decision.'
Other lawmakers such as House Majority Leader William Lamberth, a Portland Republican, said last year they supported Gov. Bill Lee's legislation because it was good policy, not because of legal threats. Some 80 companies reportedly sent letters to the state requesting rebates.
'Conservative budgeting and fiscal responsibility over the past decade have placed our state in a strong financial position,' Lamberth said in a statement Monday. 'The significant tax cut we approved last year reinvested dollars right back into the businesses, communities and workers that fuel the Volunteer State's economy.'
The state's lists, which will be on the Department of Revenue website for only 30 days, don't detail the exact amount of rebates, but the largest amount could run from $10,000 to $75,000.
State Sen. Heidi Campbell, a Nashville Democrat, blasted the move as a 'corporate tax refund scheme' and encouraged people to check the list to see which companies are benefiting. Campbell said lawmakers approved the measure without a lawsuit or court ruling,
Tennessee's largest companies secure sales tax exemptions for everything from jet fuel to water
'Just a letter from corporate attorneys and a political class eager to please.' Campbell added the state is dealing with its biggest budget deficit of the year as a result.
The legislature refused to take action this year on grocery sales tax reductions, one sponsored by Democrats accompanied by an effort to go after offshore accounts used to hide income and one backed by Republicans that offered no way to offset the revenue loss.
'This is the real cost of trickle-down economics: corporate handouts while working families get left behind. It's fiscally irresponsible and morally indefensible,' Campbell said.
The advocacy group Tennessee For All, which supports elimination of the grocery tax, criticized the state's refunds, saying companies are exploiting the program.
'Instead of closing loopholes so families can get a break on groceries, the majority of legislators chose more corporate giveaways,' said Angela Wynn, a Rutherford County parent and member of Public School Strong, a partner in the Tennessee For All coalition.
The group pointed toward reports by two Democratic lawmakers using state information from 2022 and 2025 that show more than 60% of corporations operating in Tennessee pay nothing in excise taxes on income.
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