Businesses Closed For Back Taxes
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Attorney General's Office has announced action against two central Indiana businesses because of around $800,000 in unpaid taxes. The state says Indianapolis-based Wilson-Partenheimer Inc. and the Riley House Restaurant in Greenfield have been ordered to close, pending hearings next week. March 24, 2015
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – An architecture firm in Indianapolis and a restaurant in Greenfield have one thing in common: Both owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid tax to the State of Indiana. Due to their failure to pay taxes for several years, the State of Indiana took legal action today to shut down both businesses until their unpaid tax is addressed.
“Our state supports commerce and small business, but when a company fails to pay the tax it owes, that undercuts the market and is unfair to law-abiding businesspeople who pay their taxes on time. With hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid tax and no cooperation from the owners, the Indiana Department of Revenue asked that my office take these two delinquent companies to court,” said Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, whose office represents the Department in court and obtained the restraining orders today.
The Department sought enforcement action against the two businesses, the Attorney General's Office filed the Department's motions in court, and judges today issued temporary restraining orders against:
-Wilson-Partenheimer Inc., an architecture, engineering and construction supplier whose address is 2818 East 55th Place, Indianapolis. According to 34 tax warrants the Department issued, the company and its owners J. Thomas Wilson and Jeff C. Colton, both of Zionsville, owe $538,194.56 in unpaid retail sales tax and withholding tax from between December 2012 and August 2014. The Marion County Superior Court issued a temporary restraining order today that requires Wilson-Partenheimer Inc. to close until a hearing on a permanent injunction on April 1 before Judge Heather Welch. The restraining order prohibits the company from conducting transactions and prohibits the owners from transferring company assets.
-Riley Plaza Restaurant, located at 1020 West Main Street, Greenfield, Ind. The restaurant, also known as Riley House Restaurant, and its owner, Kimberly Lawrence, owe unpaid taxes of $353,819.66 from between December 2006 and January 2014, including more than $277,000 in unpaid sales tax, nearly $34,000 in unpaid withholdings tax from employee payroll, more than $40,000 in unpaid food and beverage tax, and the rest in unpaid corporate tax, according to 138 tax warrants the Department issued. Retail businesses in Indiana are required to hold a Registered Retail Merchant Certificate or RRMC, and Riley Plaza Restaurant’s RRMC was revoked by the State effective on Nov. 22, 2012, meaning it is not permitted to conduct retail business activities in the State of Indiana. The restaurant has continued to operate since the revocation, however. Today, Hancock County Superior Court 1 issued a temporary restraining order today requiring the restaurant to close and not conduct any transactions until a hearing on a permanent injunction on March 30 before Judge Terry Snow.
After obtaining the TROs from judges in Marion and Hancock counties today, staff from the AG’s Office and Department of Revenue served the court papers on both businesses and their owners. Official public notice of the court-ordered closure also was posted on the entrance of the Riley Plaza Restaurant. Consumers who have complaints, such as problems with products or services already paid for but not delivered, can contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by calling 1-800-382-5516 or logging onto www.IndianaConsumer.com.
The tax warrants the Department previously issued are considered civil judgments, and the TROs obtained today are a form of post-judgment enforcement to bring the matters before the courts. The two businesses each have the right to be represented by counsel at their upcoming injunction hearings, but owners can be held personally responsible for repayment of the entire amount, as well as interest and penalties.
Because both businesses have failed to pay the unpaid taxes despite repeated warnings from the Department of Revenue, the State is pursuing the court actions to require the companies to remain closed until the tax matters are addressed – possibly through repayment plans – and then to ensure they are paying properly upon reopening. The court orders obtained today prohibit Wilson-Partenheimer Inc. and Riley Plaza Restaurant from conducting customer transactions and prohibits their owners from transferring company assets until their tax matters are resolved.
Source: The Office of the Indiana Attorney General