522US2$24L 11-27-98 20:08:30 PAGES OPINPGT
444
Per Curiam
would have thought that [the predeprivation procedures] represented, in light of the apparent applicability of the refund statute, the exclusive remedy for unlawful taxes." Id., at 111 (emphasis deleted). Until the Georgia Supreme Court's ruling, the taxpayer had no way of knowing from either the statutory language or case law that he could not pursue a postpayment refund and was relegated to a predeprivation remedy. See id., at 111-112. We emphasized a State "has the flexibility to maintain an exclusively predeprivation remedial scheme, so long as that scheme is 'clear and certain.' " Id., at 110-111. But a State may not "bait and switch" by "hold[ing] out what plainly appears to be a 'clear and certain' postdeprivation remedy and then declare, only after the disputed taxes have been paid, that no such remedy exists." Id., at 111, 108.
Under Florida law, there was a longstanding practice of permitting taxpayers to seek refunds under § 215.26 for taxes paid under an unconstitutional statute. See, e. g., State ex rel. Hardaway Contracting Co. v. Lee, 155 Fla. 724, 21 So. 2d 211 (1945). At Florida's urging, federal courts have dismissed taxpayer challenges, including constitutional challenges, because § 215.26 appeared to provide an adequate postpayment remedy for refunds. See Tax Injunction Act, 28 U. S. C. § 1341 ("The district courts shall not enjoin . . . any tax under State law where a plain, speedy and efficient remedy may be had in the courts of such State"); see, e. g., Osceola v. Florida Dept. of Revenue, 893 F. 2d 1231, 1233 (CA11 1990); Rendon v. State of Fla., 930 F. Supp. 601 (SD Fla. 1996). This Court, too, has interpreted Florida law to provide a postpayment remedy. See McKesson, supra, at 24, n. 4 ("It appears . . . Florida law does not require a taxpayer to pay under protest in order to preserve the right to challenge a remittance in a postpayment refund action"). The State does not dispute this settled understanding. The effect of the District Court of Appeal's decision below, however, was to cut off Newsweek's recourse to § 215.26. While
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