Kansas Supreme Court sides with pizza magnate Gene Bicknell in long-running tax dispute

In a blow to state tax collectors, the Kansas Supreme Court sided Friday with pizza executive Gene Bicknell in a long-running tax dispute with the state that lasted over a decade and a half.

In the case, Bicknell argued he was a Florida resident in 2006 when he sold NPC International, then the largest owner of Pizza Hut franchises in the world.

The Kansas Department of Revenue disagreed and in 2010 ultimately slapped him with a tax bill of over $40 million for both 2005 and 2006.

A Crawford County District Court judge ruled Bicknell to be a Florida resident, reversing a Court of Tax Appeals decision.

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That judgment, in turn, was reversed by the Kansas Court of Appeals, which also argued the matter should be taken up in Shawnee County, not Pittsburg, where Bicknell lived.

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court sided with Bicknell and the district court judge.

While Justice KJ Wall noted the "the procedural history is complex and the evidentiary record is enormous," the question ultimately boiled down to where Bicknell lived.

"These findings support its legal conclusion that Gene was domiciled in Florida in 2005 and 2006," Wall wrote in the court's opinion.

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Bicknell previously said the amount of money he was seeking to be returned had risen with interest to over $63 million.

A KDOR spokesperson said the agency was "currently reviewing the Supreme Court’s seventy-five-page decision" and declined further comment.

Andrew Bahl is a senior statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at abahl@gannett.com or by phone at 443-979-6100.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Pizza Hut franchise owner Gene Bicknell wins long Kansas tax fight