State Tax Dept: Seizure of Irvington Pizzeria Was Last Resort

It's hard not to notice that Irvington Pizzeria—the cornerstone pizza parlor in the community—has been closed since early October with glaring orange signs that say "Seized."

According to Edward Walsh, a spokesman for the NY State Department of Taxation and Finance, "seizures really are a last resort."

Walsh's records showed that the owners of the pizza parlor—who could not be reached for comment—owed the state an excess of $34,500 dollars in sales taxes, withholding taxes and corporate taxes over the period of 2009 to 2010. 

The business cannot reopen Walsh said until the outstanding taxes have been paid and the warrant has been lifted.

However, he cautioned that some of the money may have already been paid, "but, due to confidentiality laws, I cannot comment on that until the entire amount has been received."

In the case of sales tax—of which Irvington Pizzeria owes $26,000—"Typically it is being collected from the customers, but not remitted by the business operator to the state," Walsh said.

He would not say whether this was true of Irvington Pizzeria in particular.

"Generally, the tax payer is expected to come into compliance as soon as possible, and prior to re-opening," Walsh said.