Decatur Restaurants Behind On Taxes Get Slapped Hard
Decatur Metro | January 25, 2008 | 6:03 pmAn inside source from the Dekalb County Office of Economic Development tells Decatur Metro poster, Rus, that “the Georgia Department of Revenue made a “sweep” through Decatur targeting restaurants and bars who were behind in paying their sales taxes.”
He goes on to say “My source said there would be more businesses to lose their licenses but didn’t know yet which ones.”
See this post for the list of Decatur restaurants currently on “the list”.
This is going to hurt a lot of area restaurants in 2008. Who will be able to keep their heads above water and who will not?
Pasta Please and the Angel might just be the first victims.
Stay tuned. I’ll have it all here.
Thanks Rus!
Thanks for the excellent coverage. This all makes me angry, and not just because I love alcohol. In what sense is having a bunch of bars and restaurants go dark good for Decatur? Either in terms of the vibrancy of the local economy or the employees who are laid off? If they touch the Thinking Man it’s to the barricades!
What’s up unsquished? Thanks for the comment.
Personally, I’m not convinced that this is a Decatur-only “crackdown” as Derek Lawford Pubs across the city seemed to be the first victims of 2008.
Apparently Hand in Hand and Fox & Hounds are back in business (and pouring), so there are only two remaining Derek Lawford casualties (Angel and Prince of Wales). The note on the door at the Angel disappeared earlier this week, so I’m concerned that it may soon also be cleared out and permanently closed.
There seems to be much confusion on the issue. This is not a Decatur or DeKalb County issue but is, as Rus mentioned, one brought solely by the State Department of Revenue (DoR) for non-payment of sales tax. It has nothing to do with property taxes, as very few restaurants own their own buildings. Decatur certainly doesn’t want any of these places to close (or be without their licenses), as alcohol sold by the glass is the only way Decatur receives any of the sales tax that otherwise goes to the County. The DoR simply wants their share of the taxes already collected on their behalf and uses the pouring license as a way to penalize those that are in arrears. Unfortunately, for those with real hardship that didn’t just forget to pay, it’s almost like a modern day version of debtor’s prison; if you already don’t have enough money, it’s even harder to make enough when you also can’t sell alcohol.
Thanks for the bit of clarification on liquor licenses. I must admit that I’m learning as I go. I’ve revised the original post a bit.
I really don’t mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist, I’m just trying to determine the motivation behind this “sweep” through the area. Does this happen every Jan 1? If not, why this year?
Regardless this crackdown reveals that there are quite a handful of struggling Decatur restaurants.
The Angel’s “indefinitely” sign is back up.
State Liquor licenses renew Feb of each year.
I hope as many people feel as passionately when the State is trying to close bars at 2a and midnight.
Just at Los Loros tonight and they have their license. I saw it and it was dated 11/7/2007 good through 12/31/08.
Don’t know what’s going on with the rest of the places. Given what I know about state gov it wouldn’t suprise me if they didn’t know they got paid or didn’t care. See Kafka’s “The Castle” or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil if you want further info.
The only good government is…
Karen @ The Chocolate Bar told me Saturday night that The Angel plans to re-open.
At least that’s what The Angel’s landlord told her when she inquired about the availability of the building.
INteresting…thanks Rus