On behalf of its 108,000 members/patrons, Sawnee Electrical Membership Corporation “the EMC” filed a claim for refund of sales tax with the Georgia Department of Revenue in 1999, pursuant to OCGA § 48-2-35 b 1. When the claim was not decided within one year of filing, the EMC, again on behalf of its members/patrons, brought an action for a refund pursuant to OCGA § 48-2-35 b 4 in the Superior Court of Forsyth County. The trial court granted the EMC’s motion for summary judgment and the Court of Appeals reversed that judgment, ruling that the EMC lacked standing to seek a state sales tax refund. Ga. Dept. of Revenue v. Sawnee Electrical Membership Corp. , 265 Ga. App. 320 593 SE2d 756 2004. We granted a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals to determine whether the Court of Appeals or the trial court correctly decided the issue of the EMC’s standing to bring an action for a refund of state sales tax on behalf of its members. 1. “There is no question that an association may have standing in its own right to seek judicial relief from injury to itself and to vindicate whatever rights and immunities the association itself may enjoy direct standing. . . . Even in the absence of injury to itself, an association may have standing solely as the representative of its members associational standing.” Warth v. Seldin , 42 U.S. 490, 511 95 SC 2197, 45 LE2d 343 1975. See Aldridge v. Ga. Hospitality & Travel Assn. , 251 Ga. 234 1 304 SE2d 708 1983, where this Court adopted the tripartite “associational standing” test set out in Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Advertising Comm. , 432 U.S. 333, 343 97 SC 2434, 53 LE2d 383 1977.
2. We address first the question of the EMC’s direct standing. Under OCGA § 48-2-35b4, one must be a “taxpayer” to bring an action for a tax refund. The statutory authorization to bring an action for a tax refund in superior court against a governmental body is an express waiver of sovereign immunity City of Atlanta v. Barnes , 276 Ga. 449 3 578 SE2d 110 2003, and the State’s consent to be sued must be strictly construed. Doe #102 v. Dept. of Corr. , 268 Ga. 582 2 492 SE2d 516 1997. See Eibel v. Forrester , 194 Ga. 439, 441-42 22 SE2d 96 1942. If the party remitting the tax to the governmental body did not bear the burden of the tax because it passed the tax on to its customers, the party remitting the tax does not have standing to file a claim for refund of state taxes. James B. Beam &c. v. State of Georgia , 263 Ga. 609 2 437 SE2d 782 1993; Eimco BSP Services v. Chilivis , 241 Ga. 263, 268 244 SE2d 829 1978.
