Brookline Bancorp, Inc. Announces Receipt of a Notice of State Tax Assessment and its Intent to Appeal the Assessment.Business Editors & Banking/Financial Writers BROOKLINE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 5, 2002 Brookline Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :BRKL), the holding company for Brookline Savings Bank savings bank, financial institution that, until recently, performed only the following functions: receiving savings deposits of individuals, investing them, and providing a modest return to its depositors in the form of interest. and its subsidiary companies 160 Associates, Inc. ("Associates") and Brookline Preferred Capital Corporation ("BPCC BPCC Bossier Parish Community College (Bossier City, LA, USA) BPCC Best Practices in Corporate Communications (Washington, DC) BPCC Blockwise Partitioned Convolutional Code "), a real estate investment trust 99.9% owned by Associates, announced that Associates received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue ("DOR Dor or Dora, Canaanite seaport, ancient Palestine (modern Israel), N of Caesarea Palestinae. It was never a Jewish city but rather a Phoenician outpost. It was rebuilt by the Romans; still visible are the ruins of a temple and a theater. ") a Notice of Intent to Assess additional state excise taxes excise taxes, governmental levies on specific goods produced and consumed inside a country. They differ from tariffs, which usually apply only to foreign-made goods, and from sales taxes, which typically apply to all commodities other than those specifically exempted. of $3,923,246 plus interest and penalties. As of the date of Notice, June 2, 2002, interest and penalties amounted to $802,861. The assessment is based on a desk review of the financial institution excise returns filed by Associates for its tax years ended December 31, 1999 and December 31, 2000. The 2001 tax return had not yet been filed by Associates as of the time of the DOR desk review. Assessed amounts ultimately paid, if any, would be deductible expenses for federal income tax purposes. The DOR contends that dividend distributions by BPCC to Associates are fully taxable in Massachusetts. Associates believes that the Massachusetts statute that provides for a dividends received deduction equal to 95% of certain dividend distributions applies to the distributions made by BPCC to Associates. Accordingly, no provision has been made in the Company's financial statements for the amounts assessed or additional amounts that might be assessed in the future. Associates intends to vigorously appeal the assessment and to pursue all available means to defend its position. The Company is aware that many other financial institutions in Massachusetts have real estate investment trust subsidiaries that operate in a manner similar to BPCC and that they too have received recently from the DOR Notices of Intent to Assess additional state excise taxes. At March 31, 2002, the Company had total assets of $1.1 billion, total stockholders' equity Stockholders' Equity The portion of the balance sheet that includes capital received from investors in exchange for stock (paid-in capital), donated capital, and retained earnings. This is equal to total assets minus liabilities, preferred stock and intangible assets. of $289.6 million and 26,797,043 shares of common stock outstanding. This press release contains statements about future events that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. Projections about future events are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, future rates of interest and the outcome of the appeals process, including the possibility of litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. . |
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