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.