CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The state of North Carolina is struggling to fund education and other programs, but an Eyewitness News investigation discovered more than a billion dollars in unpaid taxes owed by your neighbors.
For weeks, Eyewitness News has been knocking on doors, trying to track down some of the hundreds of people across the state who, together, owe the state millions of dollars in back taxes.
According to state records, Larry Moore is one of the top tax debtors in Charlotte. The state’s listing says he owes $58, 917.
But instead of explaining why he's owed that money since 2005, Moore simply walked away from Channel 9’s cameras.
North Carolina has more than 400 names on a list of its worst tax debtors, so Eyewitness News went to the state Department of Revenue in Raleigh to find out what's going on.
“They have been notified,” N.C. Revenue Secretary David Hoyle said. “They have been told time and time again.”
But Hoyle admitted many tax debtors use a simple but effective strategy to avoid paying a dime that they owe -- they simply don't own anything in their own name.
“They just have no assets,” Hoyle said. “They've either transferred them (or) hidden them. They're judgment-proof. They have no physical assets that we can get at.”
Like Eileen Effinger, who owes tens of thousands of dollars. Eyewitness News found her living in the upscale Providence Court apartments on Highway 51, but she closed the door when asked about owing money.
But people who are paying their taxes, like Cassie Calhoun, have plenty to say.
“Make payment arrangements,” she said. “Do whatever you have to do, but don't continue to hurt everybody else and the economy because you don’t want to pay.”
The state is getting back some of the money owed. A new, sophisticated computer system now has the ability to trace bank accounts back to tax debtors, allowing the state to seize cash from them.
But the state, and Hoyle, admit there are still too many people who aren't paying what they owe.
“Are they beating the system?” Eyewitness News asked.
“For a while, maybe,” Hoyle said. “Not forever.”
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