Wave Maker

This morning's Patriot Ledger blares:

STATE EXEC'S FIRM OWES $1M TAX TAB
4,600 South Shore tax deadbeats owe the state $28 million

Now, a reasonable person reading such a headline would form an opinion that this "state exec" was a tax deadbeat -- one who has failed to pay his taxes.

But is a company that filed its tax returns, and paid the tax it claims it owes, a "deadbeat" if the Department of Revenue subsequently asserts that the taxpayer owes more?

The company here is Intercontinental Energy Corp. It built and operated power plants across the country and on other continents. In 1998, the company sold the power plants, and kept the corporation in existence each year so that matters such as TAXES could continue to be adressed.

So it would seem to me that Intercontinental's business dealings were, in 1998, extraordinarily complex. The sale of multiple power plants in multiple jurisdictions, some of them foerign countries. This is just the type of situation that gives rise to a dispute with a taxing authority that has been no stranger to over-reaching in the past.

Taxes were paid. The Department thinks it is owed more. The matter is being disputed in an appropriate forum. Since there is a hefty interest charge running on any potential underpayment, the Commonwealth is sure to receive more than its fair share of tax revenue. So we'll see what the Appellate Tax Board has to say in due time.

In the meantime, the Patriot Ledger should apologize to the "state exec" for libeling her.