Shuttered Piccadilly Pubs Owe Nearly $460K In Meals Taxes
The owner of the Piccadilly Pub restaurant chain, which closed abruptly in February, owes the state nearly half a million dollars in back meals taxes, records show.
From September 2010 to December 2011, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue filed liens against the Boston-based Massachusetts Pub Group (MPG) totaling approximately $457,750. The liens were filed against multiple Piccadilly locations, including Worcester, Auburn, Marlborough, Westborough and Sturbridge.
Bob Bliss, spokesman for the revenue department, said the state does have the option to seize assets to recoup what is owed, but noted that the state has not yet pursued that course.
"The seizure process kicks into gear at a point where the DOR feels we're not making any headway with the taxpayer," Bliss said. "We didn't get to that point with Piccadilly. I'm not saying we weren't close, but we didn't get there."
If the state were to seize assets, the properties that housed the restaurants - which spanned from Waltham to West Springfield and included five in Central Massachusetts - would not be on the table.
MPG leased the properties from the former owners of the chain, who sold it to Canada-based Repechage Investments Ltd. in 2008.
Records show that the restaurant group paid off some previous liens, including one as recently as December.
Bliss noted that the revenue department only files a formal release of a lien when the amount is paid in full. He noted that MPG may have paid back some of what it owes on its current liens, but said that's not public information.
A message left Tuesday at MPG's Boston office was not immediately returned.
Attempts to reach officers of MPG and Terra Nova Pub Group were unsuccessful. The latter is part of Repechage and is located at the same Boston address as MPG.
The restaurants posted notices on their doors when they closed six weeks ago saying they were temporarily closed. Locations in Tewksbury and Randolph closed last year.
Another of Repechage's chains, Elephant & Castle pubs, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and was sold in February to FranWorks Group. But the Piccadilly Pub chain was not a part of that sale, a spokeswoman told the Worcester Business Journal.
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