DirecTV, EchoStar Sue N.C.

DirecTV Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. are challenging North Carolina’s satellite-TV tax in court.

The lawsuit was filed against the state's Department of Revenue and other entities in the Superior Court for Wake County in Raleigh, N.C.

North Carolina has a 5% sales tax on satellite-TV services but no sales tax on cable.

As a first step toward fighting the tax, on June 30, the two direct-broadcast satellite providers requested a refund of about $30 million for their subscribers in the state.

Earlier this year, the companies filed similar suits against the states of Tennessee and Ohio.