Cat named Checkers part of pizza magnate’s $42M tax dispute

This Kansas tax caper involves a pizza magnate, $42 million and a cat named Checkers – and it’s headed to court.

Gene Bicknell, who grew up in Pittsburg and once owned the largest number of Pizza Hut franchises in the nation, is fighting Kansas over a $42 million tax bill stemming from the 2006 sale of his company, NPC International.

The Kansas Department of Revenue has always contended Bicknell was a Kansas resident at the time of the sale. Bicknell contends that’s just not true – that his primary residence was in Florida.

If Kansas ultimately loses the case, the state would have to give back the money – a significant hit possibly coming at a time when lawmakers may need to add hundreds of millions in school funding to respond to a recent state Supreme Court ruling.

The Kansas Board of Tax Appeals handed down its final decision in the case in October. Bicknell was indeed a Kansas resident, it ruled.

Now Bicknell is challenging the ruling in state district court. He filed a petition on Wednesday in Crawford County asking the district court there to review his case.

“This is a massive, improper and egregious overreach by the State of Kansas and the Department of Revenue,” Bicknell said in a statement. He added that the petition is the first time “in this 10-year nightmare and actual court of law” will hear the facts of the case.

“Retirees like us should not be penalized by the State’s dire financial situation. We vow to fight for our rights and on behalf of other former Kansas residents who are also facing the same outrageous and political manipulation. We believe it is both unconstitutional and illegal,” Bicknell said.

The Kansas Department of Revenue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bicknell says the evidence the state used to establish his Kansas residency points to KDOR’s willingness to take any position, “no matter how outrageous,” to collect taxes.

In a court filing, Bicknell says KDOR cited that he had visited family and friends in Crawford County, owned property there, installed a swing set at his Pittsburg house for his grandchildren and allowed a farm cat named Checkers to remain at the house as evidence he hadn’t left Kansas for Florida.

In the filing, Bicknell argues that these “innocuous and meaningless facts could be considered proof of residency” supports his position.

Bicknell is able to bring his case to court because of a 2016 law that allows individuals to present new evidence before a district court when challenging tax rulings. Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 280 into law over the veto of Gov. Sam Brownback, who said tax disputes should be settled before the Board of Tax Appeals and not by seeking “special treatment through the legislative process.”

“Taxpayers should contest their past tax obligations before the board and the courts under the laws that apply to everyone,” Brownback said at the time.

This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Cat named Checkers part of pizza magnate’s $42M tax dispute."