Dept. of Revenue Shutters Tilz Restaurant for Not Paying Taxes

There are bright orange warning signs that "anyone who attempts to tamper or interefere with this property will be prosecuted" on the windows at Tilz Restaurant. Seized by the Department of Revenue, the longtime, family-owned diner was closed down on Tuesday afternoon for "nonpayment of taxes."

"Well, they were open yesterday morning, and then state troopers came and the town cops whoed up and then they were closed down," said Paula Tremblay, owner of Personal Distinction hair salon, which is next to Tilz Restaurant.

Owned by Carol Misulis, Tilz has been open and run by the family for generations.

Tilz was seized by DOR around noontime on Tuesday, March 6, according to DOR spokesperson Bob Bliss. According to Bliss, Tilz owes about $43,000 in taxes to the Commonwealth; $32,000 is in meals taxes and another $11,000 in withholding (meaning employee paycheck payments that were not reported).

"This goes back to 2009," said Bliss, "and they began receiving assessment notices in 2010 for the taxes. When the business is seized, it means there is no communication between DOR and the business. So it’s a last resort to do this, and it doesn’t happen all that much when you. About 60 to 80 get seized a year and there are tens of thousands in the state."

Bliss said generally, when a business is seized for tax nonpayment, a substantial down payment is made, and a "payment plan that is acceptable" is worked out between the business and the DOR.

"If that doesn’t happen," said Bliss, "the equipment gets auctioned. But you want to get people some time to work on a plan. It takes a while to germinate where you’re at a seizure. They didn’t find out about this on Tuesday."

Preliminary discussions, Bliss indicated, is that Tilz is discussing the situation and the DOR is "waiting to hear what they might put on the table."