Movie Mogul Is Fined $250,000

The State Board of Equalization on Thursday fined movie mogul Ted Field nearly $250,000 for failing to pay taxes on $19 million worth of Italian paintings he purchased for his former Beverly Hills mansion.

Field, whose film credits include “Three Men and a Baby,” agreed to pay the taxes last month, dropping his fight against the board’s efforts to collect the money. Including interest, the total came to about $2.3 million.

But Field’s check came a decade late, and on Thursday, board members voted 2 to 1 to penalize him. A man of such considerable wealth, they said, should have known he owed the taxes when he first bought his paintings in the mid-’80s.

“It’s not a capital offense, nor should it be,” said board member Brad Sherman of Los Angeles, who voted in favor of the fine along with member Dean Andal of Stockton. “But when you purchase $19 million worth of art, you or your advisers ought to know the applicable law.”

The case--one of the largest of its kind to come before the Board of Equalization--involved a little-known levy called the “use tax,” which was adopted in 1935 as a complement to the sales tax.