Jack Howland

Poughkeepsie Journal

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance seized Dragon’s Den in the Poughkeepsie Plaza Wednesday due to its failure to settle 18 open tax warrants totaling $177,609.84, according to a department spokesperson.

And the shop may be forced to close permanently if it is unable to raise $15,000 in the next two weeks.

A sign was posted at the Town of Poughkeepsie comics and hobby store Wednesday. In seizing the business, the state takes possession of it until the debt is resolved, and the staff isn’t allowed inside.

UPDATE: Dragon's Den working toward resolving tax issues

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The 18 tax warrants were issued for debt in three different areas, according to taxation and finance spokesperson James Gazzale: Nine were for withholding tax, eight were for sales tax and one was for corporate tax.

David Steltenkamp, owner of Dragon's Den, did not respond to the Journal's inquiries Wednesday.

Casey Said, assistant manager with Dragon's Den, set up a GoFundMe campaign Tuesday titled "Save Dragon's Den" with a $15,000 goal. If the shop is unable to raise the money before April 26, the shop will be forced to permanently close, the campaign said.

Seizing a business, Gazzale said, only happens after the state makes several “attempts to resolve the debt” that go “unpaid or ignored.”

“In general, we are in communication with business owners long before we go and seize their business ... we try to work with them to resolve the debt as quickly as possible so it doesn’t come to this,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes it does.”

The “liability periods” for these 18 tax warrants, Gazzale said, stretch from 2007 through 2017.

After a business is seized, he said the state Department of Taxation and Finance will continue to work with the business to find “mutually beneficial” ways to resolve the debt and return the keys.

“We just need to know,” he said, “that a business owner moving forward would be acting in good faith.”

Jack Howland: jhowland@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4870, Twitter: @jhowl04