Chicopee restaurant seized over taxes

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - A Chicopee restaurant has been shut down by the state for allegedly not paying taxes.

Massachusetts Department of Revenue Spokesman Bob Bliss told 22News that Cote's Restaurant at 353 Front Street was seized Tuesday. According to Bliss, the restaurant owes over $61,000, about $40,000 in meals tax, and close to $20,000 in employee withholding tax. Bliss said the oldest portion of the non-payment is from May 2008.

Bliss explained that a seized business will be allowed to re-open with a substantial down payment on the back taxes and with a payment plan determined to be workable and reasonable by the state. When a business is unable to pay their taxes, its equipment could be sold at a public auction which would be the final step in the state's collection process.

Bliss told 22News in the case of Cote's Restaurant, the unpaid tax is money collected from customers or deducted from employee's paychecks.

It's a situation that could have been avoided. But many customers told 22News they're saddened by the potential loss of a true "Mom and Pop shop." "There won't be nothing in Chicopee pretty soon," said John Smith, "they're closing everything down. That's why Springfield is getting ahead of us."

Cote's will be allowed to re-open with a substantial down payment and a state-approved payment plan.

If not, the state would move forward in the collection process by auctioning off everything inside

Over the last five years, the state has seized between 60-80 businesses each year, many of those being restaurants, for non-payment of taxes.