N.C. tax delinquencies soar

As North Carolinians scramble to file their taxes, state tax delinquencies have topped $1 billion.

That's twice as much as just two years ago, though some delinquents - such as Bob Hupman of Mebane, who has more such debt than anyone in the state - owe as much now as they did then.

Revenue officials say 300,000 corporate and individual taxpayers owe the money, which could go a long way toward filling a budget hole of up to $2.6 billion.

"The economy obviously has had some impact on this," Revenue Secretary David Hoyle said Thursday. "People have a choice: making the mortgage payment, the payment on their car, or paying the government. The government's going to come in last."

Though the amount of delinquencies has doubled since 2009, Hoyle said some of the total reflects more aggressive efforts to collect taxes once written off as uncollectable.

At the same time, the department faces budget cuts that could reduce the number of tax collectors.

Revenue officials say payment agreements and wage garnishments should help them recover $444 million of the $1 billion. Similar agreements are in the works with those who owe another $348 million.

The state has more than 600 hardcore delinquents who owe a total of $20.4 million. Their names have been published on the department's website after the state filed liens or took other legal steps to collect the taxes.

"We're at the end of the road with those people," Hoyle said.

Man owes $2.2 million

Hupman is at the top of the list.

Two weeks after the Charlotte Observer reported his $2.2 million tax debt in 2009, he resigned from the Mebane town council. An Internal Revenue Service lien shows that he owes nearly $4 million in federal taxes.

Hupman, former president of MebTel Communications, could not be reached.

Other people atop the delinquent list also appear to owe federal taxes on top of their state taxes.

One is former N.C. State and NFL football player Koren Robinson. He owes the state of North Carolina nearly $500,000 and the IRS $71,000.

Neither Robinson nor any other top tax delinquents could be reached.

The state is limited in how far it can go to collect. Federal tax liens, for example, trump state liens.

Officials consider only $125 million of the billion dollars uncollectible in part because some people can't be found. Hoyle said new databases and other tools have helped track down delinquents and made it possible to collect more. Since July, the state has collected $515 million in delinquent taxes.

State tries to help

Sen. Bob Rucho, a Matthews Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said he has "no sympathy for the people who have cheated or abused the law."

But he applauds the revenue department's efforts to work out payment plans with companies that could be forced out of business by more aggressive collection methods.

"If you put them out of business, you'll never get your money back or never get future revenues from that business," Rucho said.

With delinquencies at a high, the number of people trying to collect them - now around 250 - could drop. Hoyle said his department is bracing for cuts that could eliminate many positions, including collectors.

Even now, each collector is assigned 4,000 delinquent accounts.

"It's not a pretty picture," Hoyle said. "We have asked the General Assembly to be kind to us."

Staff researcher Maria David contributed.