During his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has railed against high corporate taxes, which he says make it hard for businesses to be successful and create jobs.
The Huntsman family business – chemical firm the Huntsman Corp. – isn’t taking corporate taxes lying down.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the company owes $195,100 in property taxes and penalties for 2011 on its world headquarters.
Huntsman hasn’t been a corporate officer of the company for years, but the company did generate the family fortunate that has allowed Huntman to make his presidential run. A representative of the company said it was just an oversight.
Huntsman Corp. is just the best known of a celebrity list of Utah property owners who are late on their taxes. Former state Senator Dan Liljenquist, who may run for U.S. Senate against Orrin Hatch, is also late, as are several well-known businesses including Intermountain Healthcare, which owes more than a million dollars.
The timing of the public disclosure of late taxpayers for 2011 is not good for Huntsman, who will appear on the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10. He finished seventh in the Iowa Republican Caucus.
The Huntsman Corp. headquarters sit on a hill overlooking the University of Utah’s Research Park. It owes $145,600 on the building and $49,500 on the 10 acres of land, which is technically owned by the University of Utah.
Liljenquist told The Tribune he was shocked that he was late and that his wife immediately paid the $2,904 they owed when they discovered the issue. He told The Tribune that he just paid off his mortgage and this was the first time he had to pay the property taxes, rather than it coming from the mortgage company.
A spokesperson for Intermountain Healthcare said they mailed the taxes owed but that the “check was lost.”
