U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman is suing a Dutchess County couple on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service to collect $1.39 million in unpaid taxes.
Michael E. Satz and Marietta M. Staples of Staatsburg have neglected or refused to pay the full amount they owe on personal income taxes back to 2006, according to the complaint filed Dec. 20 in federal court in White Plains.
The government is asking the court to reduce the taxes, penalties and interest to a judicial judgment.
The purpose of reducing a tax claim to a judgment, generally, is to extend the statute of limitations before the IRS”™ 10-year administrative deadline expires. The judicial route is taken when all administrative remedies have failed, according to Department of Justice regulations, and there is reason to believe that the debt can still be collected.
Federal tax liens were originally filed against the couple in 2008, 2009 and 2016. They were refiled in the past two years.
The IRS has made numerous attempts to collect the debts, the complaint states, by direct contact and correspondence, “all of which have been unsuccessful.”
The couple did not respond to telephone messages and an email message requesting comment.
