Kansas Department of Revenue agents Thursday morning executed tax warrants and seized business assets of University Audio Inc. and personal assets of the owner for not paying state sales tax, the department said.

But the owner of the store, Gautam “Tom” Patel, when reached Thursday evening at the store, 2319 La., said he had cleared up the matter and paid the state the outstanding balance Thursday afternoon.

“They are completely and utterly paid off,” Patel said.

State revenue officials could not be reached for comment Thursday evening to confirm the payment.

Department spokeswoman Freda Warfield sent a news release at 3 p.m. Thursday to the Journal-World about the tax warrants obtained in Douglas County district court.

“When multiple collection attempts fail, the department is forced to protect the interests of the state and employ civil actions aimed at encouraging the taxpayers to comply, such as a bank levy, a till tap or ultimately seizure of assets,” Warfield wrote.

She said the business collected the sales tax funds but did not remit them to the state. She said the business and Patel owed $8,378.30 for December 2006 to February 2007, June 2007 and July to December 2009.

Warfield said the business was closed and that the sealed assets would be sold at auction to pay toward delinquent taxes.

Patel said the store closed Thursday morning when agents arrived but that he worked with revenue officials to make the payments. He said he could have reopened Thursday but decided to wait to open the store at 10 a.m. today.

He said the business was suffering from tough times dating back several years, to having a store in Emporia that lost a significant amount of money. Patel purchased the store in 1984.

“We’ve had tough times,” Patel said. “We look forward to having better times in the future.”