(DMI)
TO THE TUNE OF . . . Among the firms that owe the IRS are the Boys Choir of Harlem and country star Travis Tritt’s old touring company. (
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It’s a debtor state.
The IRS has some 70,000 tax liens open against New York state businesses, ranging from $92.3 million owed by a company called Knatten Inc. in Manhattan to 15 cents unpaid by the Expo Design Center in Ozone Park, public records show.
Companies caught in the taxman’s net include the medical practice of a top surgeon, the firm of a fashion designer who created one of Michelle Obama’s favorite looks, and a top New York lobbying firm, according to an IRS database of outstanding federal tax liens, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The government will likely never collect some of the debts, including $12.7 million owed by long-grounded Pan Am airline.
Knatten, with one of the largest single liens in the country, also appears to be out of business.
Albany-based lobbying powerhouse Patricia Lynch Associates owes $1.3 million for 2009 and 2010 business taxes. It was fined $500,000 in 2010 by the attorney general for its dealings with former Comptroller Alan Hevesi over the state pension fund.
The firm is under a payment agreement with the IRS, its spokesman Darren Dopp said.
The medical practice run by Dr. Jacob Rozbruch, head of general orthopedics at Beth Israel hospital, owes $90,552.
Rozbruch did not return a call seeking comment.
A business run by Eva Scrivo, who used to style Martha Stewart’s hair, has a $63,767 lien.
Scrivo’s husband, Eric Efros, said the lien was for a Hudson Street salon that closed in 2009. He said the principal balance to the IRS was paid, but the firm disputes about $11,000 in penalties.
Al Sharpton’s National Action Network owes $1.4 million.
But a spokeswoman for the group said it doesn’t believe it owes more than $1 million.
“Since 2009, NAN has been in the process of resolving all of its disputed back taxes and is currently in the final stages of attempting to conclude remaining debt to remove any liens,” said the spokeswoman, Rachel Noerdlinger.
Cynthia Rowley Inc., a company once tied to the Manhattan fashion designer, has an open lien for $64,245, according to federal records, which show the lien was filed in December 2004 for unpaid taxes in 2001 and 2002.
A lawyer for the designer says the company was dissolved in 2004 and the taxes were assessed after Rowley’s connection to it ended.
Michelle Obama has donned a floral dress by New York City designer Tracy Feith, but his company was unfashionably late in paying its taxes. It owes $67,883.
“I don’t know anything about it,” he told The Post. “I’m going to have to call my bookkeeper.”
Country singer Travis Tritt’s former touring company owes $150,110.85. But his business manager insisted it paid all its bills.
Numerous New York restaurants have failed to serve up their business taxes, including the defunct Terrace in the Sky. The company that ran it, Morningside Heights Restaurant Corp., has liens totaling $874,295, records show.
Popular East Hampton eatery The Laundry closed in 2010, leaving an unpaid tax bill of $163,453.
Tax collectors couldn’t harvest the taxes from Amagansett Farm & Market, the company that used to run the Amagansett farmer’s market. It owes the IRS $32,104.
“That’s the previous owner,” the market’s current manager said.
Total federal tax liens owed by New York state companies:
* Pan American World Airways, defunct airline — $12,710,158
*Count Basie Enterprises, management company for the famed orchestra — $485,963
* Boys Choir of Harlem, defunct nonprofit — $1,093,253
* National Action Network, The Rev. Al Sharpton’s nonprofit — $1,416,211
* Morningside Heights Restaurant Corp., operated Terrace in the Sky restaurant — $874,295
* Eva Scrivo Inc., company once owned by Martha Stewart’s former hairstylist — $63,767
* Communication Workers of America, union—$122,894
* Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, Manhattan business group — $92,905
* Fortunoff Fine Jewelry and Silverware, former Long Island retailer — $59,887
* Travis Tritt Inc., countrymusic singer’s former tour company — $150,110
* Cynthia Rowley Inc., fashion designer’s former company — $64,245
* Pepsico Foreign Sales, Westchester based beverage company — $55,491
* Don’t Tell Mama Inc., former operator of the Midtown piano bar and cabaret—$70,790
* Damon Dash Enterprises, rapmogul—$27,777
Source: IRS, New York state Department of State, New York City Register’s Office