SACRAMENTO — Former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado and his family's business are embroiled in a legal dispute over more than $4 million in taxes that the IRS says they owe, according to court documents.

Maldonado, a Republican who is running for a congressional seat on the Central Coast, has co-owned a 6,000-acre Santa Maria farm that grows cauliflower, celery and strawberries. In April, he said he was severing his ties to the business, after reports of a battle in tax court over the IRS' contention that he and his wife owed the government $470,000.

But court records reviewed by The Times show that the Maldonado family business, Agro-Jal, is also challenging an IRS finding that it underpaid its taxes by $3.6 million between 2006 and 2008. The case is now in settlement discussions.

In a statement Wednesday, Maldonado said he was looking forward to ending the matter.

"This dispute involves a lot of very complex accounting issues that other small businesses are attempting to navigate on a daily basis. … I want this resolved, and the second we get a bill that correctly defines our tax liability, it will be paid," he said. Read more at latimes.com »