The former owner of the RaceWay Store on Portsmouth Boulevard received two summonses last month for unpaid meals tax from March 2017 to September 2017 and November 2017 to February 2018.

Altaf Shaikh was served the summonses on July 20 and July 28, and he currently has an unpaid balance of $5,956.

Shaikh had already appeared in court and settled the debt pertaining to one of the charges, but it was recently discovered he was never served with that first summons. Therefore, deputy treasurer Keith Ainsley said, that summons was served recently to settle that issue.

“The summons that Mr. Shaikh responded to in court was from the months of March 2017 to September 2017 in the amount of $8,000,” Ainsley said in an email. “Mr. Shaikh was reportedly out of the country at the time these complaints were issued, and the business satisfied those months in late 2017. However, the summons was never served on Mr. Shaikh. That took place about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, once summonses are issued the process has to play itself out and has to go before the court to be heard at trial or dismissed by the court.”

Once the City Treasurer’s Office was advised that Shaikh was served on the first summons, they issued a complaint on the other delinquent periods — November 2017 to February 2018 — but Shaikh is working with the city to provide accurate sales figures from the unpaid periods.

RaceWay stores referred all comments to the Suffolk Police Department, because RaceWay Stores and RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. are not affiliated with their independent operators.

The store is now under new ownership.

According to Ainsley, they are anticipating that the balance will be paid shortly after the process is completed.

Suffolk businesses that serve prepared food and drinks are required to charge their customers a 6.5-percent city tax. They hold that tax until the 20th of every month, when they are required to turn over to the city the amount due from the prior month.

This is considered a trust tax, because the money is held in trust that it will be turned over to the city.

“The law treats trust taxes differently than an actual tax that’s levied against an individual or business. These are taxes that are collected by the establishment on behalf of the government,” Ainsley said in an email. “They are called trust taxes for that very reason; the money is to be held in trust and turned over at the appropriate time to the city. These funds are not to be commingled with other funds and are not to be spent by the proprietor.”

Once the funds are misappropriated, the city considers it embezzlement under state fraud statutes and city ordinances. It is considered a Class 1 misdemeanor and carries a possible penalty of jail time.

The City Treasurer’s Office attempts other debt collection methods before it resorts to criminal charges, Ainsley said.

“We prefer to solve these issues before reaching that stage, and any business in the city that is having problems can contact our office to make arrangements on bringing their balances current,” Ainsley said in an email. “When a business fails to remit their payment, there are numerous actions that are taken before this step is reached. We send notices, phone calls, emails if we have an email address.

“Going before the court is usually the last resort if all other distress collection methods are unsuccessful.”