A Lake County judge ordered a Hammond business to shut down after the state filed a lawsuit claiming the company owed more than $84,000 in taxes.
Superior Court Judge John Pera issued a permanent restraining order Wednesday against Multistate Transmission, at 5604 Hohman Ave. The order bans Multistate from taking on any new business and says the company must wrap up any existing business in two weeks.
A release from the Indiana Attorney General’s office says that Multistate, owned by Jonathan Lynn, failed to pay $84,355 in retail sales tax and withholding tax starting from April 2006 through January.
The state revoked the company’s Registered Retail Merchant Certificate, which all retail stores must have to operate in Indiana, in 2010, but it continued to operate without the certificate, according to the release.
Lynn said Wednesday that he wanted to work out a payment plan with the state but that officials weren’t interested in it.
“They just want me closed,” he said. “It’s unfair; it should be illegal.”
Lynn said blamed the economy as to why he hasn’t made his tax payments.
“I want to stay open and do business,” he said.
However, the release from the state says that Lynn wouldn’t cooperate through other measures, so that the lawsuit was the only other option the state had.
“The state supports small business and private enterprise, but when an owner shirks their legal obligation and chooses to not pay the tax they owe, it undercuts the competition on price and is unfair to law-abiding merchants and other taxpayers who pay their taxes on time,” Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said in the release.
Indiana Department of Revenue Commissioner Mike Alley said that the state will go after other businesses that also don’t pay their fair share of taxes. The state has already sought a similar court order against an Elkhart company, Pumpernickel Foods, which owes $192,424 in back taxes.
Lynn said Wednesday that he wanted to look at what his options were to appeal the judge’s decision.
More Top Picks Best Watch Repair Tool Kits For Horologists
Teresa Auch Schultz can be reached at [email protected].