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A visitor to the drive-through at Del Taco discovers the restaurant is closed for business Tuesday afternoon at 1211 Escalante Ave. The state has closed the fast-food restuarant for allegedly failing to pay its sales tax.
Del Taco customers in Durango will have to do without their crispy shrimp tacos and Del Combo burritos for now.
The fast-food restaurant at 1211 Escalante Drive was seized last week by state authorities for allegedly failing to pay sales tax.
The business owes an estimated $14,061.96 in unpaid sales tax, said Colorado Department of Revenue spokes-man Mark Couch.
Del Taco was seized March 2.
The building's contents are scheduled to be auctioned at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Del Taco has until then to pay the taxes, Couch said.
The business' telephone number was not working Tuesday, and a call to parent company Sagittarius Brands of Nashville, Tenn., was not returned. Sagittarius Brands is privately held.
The property is registered to Dos Oso, a limited liability company. C. David McDermott, a Colorado Springs lawyer who has been listed as the company's registered agent, said he was not in contact with the company's owner and had resigned as registered agent.
Del Taco, south of Walmart, remained closed Tuesday. Drivers entered the parking lot only to turn around.
Couch said Department of Revenue investigators make sure businesses are complying with their duty to collect sales tax and remit it to state authorities. Businesses that fail to pay sales tax are “violating the trust of their customers," Couch said.
“After all, that's not their money, that's the customers' money," he said.
chuck@durangoherald.com