Arkansas Business

Steve Parks didn't know the taxman would be making a house call on Oct. 3 at his Little Rock residence. Later that morning his wife called to say that a squad of federal agents was at the front door.

"I can't say it was routine because it wasn't," said Parks, CEO of King Coal LLC. "It was a 100-percent surprise deal. We have been working with everybody. All they had to do was ask us, and we would've produced the documents."

The Internal Revenue Service agents dropped by unannounced with a warrant to seize business records as part of an investigation.

What was it all about?

"Frankly, I'm not sure," Parks said. "They wanted my business records. Anna's office is at the house, and they wanted her records, too."

His wife, Anna Harper, runs Anna's Estate Sales out of the home, four blocks west of the Country Club of Little Rock.

"They just showed up," Parks said. "I don't know what they were looking for. It was King Coal's business records and our personal records in our home. That's about all I know.

"They left me scratching my head, and it was very unnerving for Anna."

What's the timetable for the IRS investigation?

"They say something like this can last eight months, but it could be less," Parks said. "That's what we're hoping for."

Parks and his lawyer in the IRS matter, Gene Sayre, said despite the IRS visit, it's business as usual for King Coal.

"What we can tell you is they're moving forward with their business," said Sayre, a partner in the Little Rock law firm of Hatfield & Sayre. "The IRS has been given all the records that they requested.

"They wanted to look over the records and make a determination of whether there is any violation of the law."