Just days after his reelection to the Tulsa city council– the Oklahoma Tax Commission shut down Blake Ewing's business over unpaid sales tax allegations.
The Phoenix Cafe is a popular spot in the Pearl District, but people trying to stop by this week found a notice from the tax commission saying the location was closed for non-payment of sales taxes. It reopened a short time later, according to state officials.
"Our last thing we want to do is close a business," said Paula Ross, spokeswoman for the tax commission.
Ross said the state warned multiple times the closure would happen if the funds were not paid.
Ewing declined an on-camera interview for this report, but he said by phone the payment was due in the fall of 2015. He first blamed a clerical error for the unpaid sales taxes, saying he was transitioning to a new bookkeeper.
Later, he said he's also trying to sell the location and believed a new owner would have paid the sales taxes owed.
He sent a written statement reiterating: "As a result of an accounting team transition, we had an oversight in tax payments several months ago. The mistake has been resolved and we are in good standing with the tax commission. After a closure on Wednesday for an hour and a half, we are open, we are serving customers and it’s back to business as usual."
Ross said the tax commission does have to close businesses from time to time when taxes are unfiled or unpaid, but she said they try to work with owners before it reaches that point. She said businesses collect tax money, but it is not theirs – they're required to turn it over to the state so it can be used on behalf of the people of Oklahoma.
"We don't want to close businesses down, but we do want citizens to know when they are paying their tax money it's actually going to their community," she said.
The Phoenix is now in good standing, according to the state. Ewing said his operations manager set-up a payment plan right after it was forced to close. The commission said it found no history of this happening before at that location.
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