Recent articles in the Plymouth Independent have documented delinquencies in the payment of meals taxes to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and probably to Plymouth by the owners of multiple Plymouth restaurants and bars.
These monies were collected from and paid by patrons of these establishments.
These monies legally belong to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and are to be remitted to the Commonwealth.
Not remitting these patron-paid taxes and using them for alternative, personal or business expenses constitutes theft…period.
In some instances, it may be in an honest, yet misguided, attempt to save a failing business.
Or, in other instances, it appears to be part of an ongoing fiscal scheme, involving other monies not paid, to “milk” monies from a business or businesses…This scenario plays out very often in businesses with meals tax responsibilities.
The total amount of meals tax monies paid by customers and not remitted to the Commonwealth by Plymouth establishments over the past five [years] would be an interesting figure.
The total amount of meals tax monies paid by customers and not remitted to the Commonwealth by all delinquent Massachusetts establishments over the past five years would be a staggering figure.
The Plymouth Independent would perform a public service by investigating these figures and revealing the amount of misappropriation (theft) of collected taxes from the Commonwealth by owners of Plymouth establishments and other statewide owners.
– James M. Quinn