(Washington, DC) - The Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) sold at public auction the assets seized from The Wine Specialist, Inc, located at 2115 M Street, NW, on Friday, October 22, to pay towards delinquent tax liabilities.  OTR collected $73,000 from the auction of the store’s inventory of wine, champagne and liquor.

The business, owned by Stephen R. Maisel, was delinquent more than $652,000 in sales and use taxes for periods February 2004 to February 2009.  Mr. Maisel filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on May 5, 2009, however, the case was dismissed on September 2, 2010, and OTR seized the business immediately after the dismissal.

OTR’s standard practice is to continually encourage delinquent taxpayers, who are not lawfully filing or paying taxes, to voluntarily enter into a repayment agreement. When multiple collection attempts fail, the agency is forced to employ civil actions aimed at encouraging the taxpayers to comply, such as a bank levy or ultimately seizure and auction of assets.