Steven Greenhut on California's $55 Million Demand

Business owners who have fled California often say their decision to leave wasn't just about tax rates, but about the punitive attitudes sometimes found among tax and regulatory authorities here. A new wrinkle in a high-profile, 22-year-old tax case gives fodder to those who make such claims. Steven Greenhut highlights the case of Gilbert Hyatt, a microprocessor innovator whom the state's tax agency has been hounding for $55 million he says he doesn't owe.