Owings Mills Business Tops List of Biggest "Tax Cheats" in Maryland

An Owings Mills business and a popular Dundalk eatery are two of six businesses and individuals in the Baltimore and Harford Counties area to make the state comptroller's so-called list of top 50 "tax cheats."

, located on Merritt Boulevard in Dundalk, owes the state more than $200,000 in sales and use withholding, according to a list released today by Comptroller Peter Franchot.

"We do this for two reasons, one to try to use public peer pressure on these folks in the hopes that will spur them on to work with us," said Joseph Shapiro, a spokesman for Comptroller Peter Franchot. "Secondly, because it works. Since we began this, we've collected $26 million from 587 tax delinquents within two weeks of their names going on the list."

The comptroller's office began releasing this list in 2001.

Typically, tax records are considered private but the people and businesses on the list were all subject to liens and judgements imposed in Circuit Court.

All the people and companies on the list were notified by certified mail with a return receipt requested and given the opportunity to settle their liabilities before having their names included on the list, according to a statement from the comptroller's office.

Comptroller's "Tax Cheat" List