Mont. seeks $3.4M in taxes from Wyoming coal co.
Montana seeks $3.4M in taxes from Wyoming coal company that sold fuel to affiliates
FILE - In this April 4, 2013 file photo, a mechanized shovel loads coal onto a haul truck at the Cloud Peak Energy's Spring Creek mine near Decker, Mont. Montana tax authorities are seeking $3.4 million from the Wyoming coal company that used a practice under investigation by federal officials to place a value on the coal it was selling. The state says the taxes are owed on sales between 2005 and 2007 from the Spring Creek mine near Decker, one of the largest coal mines in the U.S. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- Montana tax authorities are seeking $3.4 million from a Wyoming coal company that used a practice under scrutiny by federal officials in valuing the coal it sold.
The state says taxes, interest and penalties are owed on sales between 2005 and 2007 from the Spring Creek mine near Decker, one of the largest coal mines in the U.S.
District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock held a hearing Tuesday in a lawsuit Gillette-based Cloud Peak Energy filed to block the state's tax claim.
Attorney Robert Sterup says state officials improperly calculated the taxes owed on Cloud Peak's coal sales to two affiliated companies.
Sherlock did not make an immediate ruling.
The Interior Department is investigating whether the practice of sales to affiliated companies was abused to determine royalties on coal shipped to Asia.
