The Louisiana Department of Revenue claims that SemGroup subsidiaries owed more than $420,000 in tax liabilities prior to the company’s July 2008 filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The objection disputes alleged language in a SemGroup disclosure disallowing interest on claims.

“The Louisiana Department of Revenue does not have authority from the state legislature to waive its right to interest or reduce the interest collected,” the objection reads.

SemGroup subsidiaries SemFuel, the refined petroleum division, and SemStream, the natural gas liquids unit, both did business in Louisiana before the bankruptcy. The now-defunct SemMaterials asphalt unit also operated in Pennsylvania, according to reports.

That’s state revenue department joined in opposition to the SemGroup amended reorganization plan earlier this week. SemMaterials remitted its sales tax but has not filed partnership tax returns in Pennsylvania since 2005, according to that state’s motion.

“Because of the failure to file the delinquent tax returns, the plan should not be confirmed,” the Pennsylvania objection states.

The Oklahoma Tax Commission so far has not joined any opposition to the SemGroup plan. OTC spokeswoman Paula Ross said the commission filed tax claims in the bankruptcy case and expects those will be paid out under the reorganization plan.

Ross

SemGroup hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 by the end of this year. The reorganized SemGroup, which hopes to offer $2.26 billion in cash and equity to creditors, could be a publicly traded entity focused on crude oil gathering, storage and transportation services.

The company’s first reorganization plan was offered in May but has been amended twice since then.

The amendments offer more money to oil and gas producers and more equity to unsecured lenders, in general.

The current offer sets aside $253 million for producers, including a cash payment if they “opt in” to accept the settlement.

SemGroup’s confirmation hearing for its reorganization plan is set for Sept. 16, but both producers and the company are arguing for a later date so the producer payback can settled. Producers took their fight to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brendan L. Shannon ruled in Wilmington, Del., that banks and other secured lenders held priority claims over the unsecured creditors.