Delmarva Paintball Responds

"Hello all, This is Dan Wallace, Owner of Delmarva Paintball.

Before people go haywire on this, I'd like to clear a few things up.

First the totals are way off. While still quite high the actual amount is far less than a third of what is listed. The amounts listing me as the officer are duplicates of what the company was assesed but with fewer penalties.

How did it happen? 8 years ago when I moved Delmarva Paintball from DE. to Salisbury I spoke with a representative from the comptrollers office. I asked very specific questions and got horribly inacurate answers.

Much like Crown Sports I was not made aware of the Admissions and Amusements tax and thus did not collect it from my customers.

I also asked about whether paintballs sold for use at the facility were to be charged sales tax. I was told no. To quote the Comptrollers representative "you don't charge tax on ketchup if it's being used at the restaraunt either" Turns out they were very wrong and I was very wrong for going to the Comptrollers Office for tax advice.
After being open for more than 6 years in the county and paying all and every tax that I was aware of, I was audited.

It made no difference that the missinformation that I recieved was directly from the Comptrollers Office. It made no difference that the amount they were looking for was never collected from the customers.

Remember... this is not a tax on me or on my business, it is tax on people who play paintball. I am just required to collect it from you for the state.

It would have been simple to charge each customer a few extra dollars during that time and just hand it over to the state. That's what I did with all the other collected taxes.
Now I will admit, when I got that bill I was shocked. I had been playing above board and as far as I knew all was well in taxville.

I had no way of paying what they were asking and of course it was impossible to go back to 6 years worth of customers and say "Hey, I need another couple of bucks from you" So, I am stuck finding a way to come up with the money.

I have never hid this. It is something I have been dealing with for two years. I had to file tons of forms and I am working on payment arrangements with the state.

No, I am not rolling in the dough. Actually the paintball business is a tough one, made even tougher with the extra taxes put on me. Most weekends my referees take home more than I do and the government definately collects more in taxes from Delmarva Paintball than I make in a year. Most days I'm just hoping I can afford to stay open another week.

Thanks for reading.
Dan Wallace
Delmarva Paintball"

From Joe Albero:

Mr. Wallace,

The state has provided this information and fully expects you, (as well as the Corporation) to make good on those figures. Unfortunately, (for you) you will also be subjected each and every day to penalties and interest until the full amounts both corporate and personal are paid off.

I have owned several businesses in my day, some of which were Billiard Rooms. They were subjected to a 10% Amusement Tax as well and this was considered and adjusted immediately when I started those businesses. ANY good Accountant or CPA would know this, as should YOU.

To claim you made calls and were told different, well, no disrespect but that was a lame excuse. I'm personally confident that YOU have spoken to other business owners, (in the SAME business) that bitched and complained about the Amusement Taxes they were paying, therefore I find it pretty much impossible to believe your story.

You went on to quote, "you don't charge tax on ketchup if it's being used at the restaurant either" Mr. Wallace, come on now. That's about as made up a statement as I've ever heard any businessman make. In the Billiard business you hand them a rack of 16 balls and two pieces of chalk, they are expected to return to the counter with the same. If you SELL them something, it's taxed. The ketchup thing, well, that's just ridiculous. When you sold your customers Paintballs, they weren't coming back to the counter to return them.

"It made no difference that the miss information that I received was directly from the Comptrollers Office. It made no difference that the amount they were looking for was never collected from the customers." There was a time I had an accountant who was actually paying the 10% Amusement Tax as well as a 5% Sales Tax. The Accountant was wrong for doing so. It was one or the other, whichever is higher. Nevertheless, when we went to the state and asked for the additional 5% we had been paying, back, they simply told us that if we could prove we were going to pay back each and every Customer that 5% they would do so. However, they knew that was impossible, so hundreds of thousands of dollars was kept by the State. No hard feelings, our mistake. However, at least we were honest and paid our fair share.

The tail end of your message is truly puzzling. My kids played paintball on a Semi Pro level. ANYONE reading this Post that has kids and have been subjected to the cost of a day of Paintball knows the expense of this sport. It's out of this world, cost wise. Let me put it to you this way Mr. Wallace. We used to hear complaints at the Billiard Rooms from people saying, TWENTY BUCKS, YOU'RE KIDDING ME, RIGHT? Mind you, there were two to four of them playing for hours on brand new tables, TV's showing sporting events all day and night, heat and or air conditioning and space that cost at least $16.00 per sq. ft. Yeah, TWENTY BUCKS!

You sign up for a Paintball Game and it will cost you that much. Then there's the rental of the guns and gear. Then there's the Painballs. COME ON NOW, you must not be reporting every sale Mr. Wallace because I know Paintball Fields where they're making so much money hand over fist it isn't funny. More importantly, while we were paying Staff to man the Billiard Rooms, paying rent, gas & electric and insurance, we also paid our taxes and quite frankly, WE MADE MONEY.

My kids would spend anywhere from $150.00 to $200.00 a day, (PER KID) playing Paintball. Not TWENTY BUCKS! Now if I was under the impression you were only bringing in twenty bucks per kid each time they came to play Paintball, I might believe you had some problems surviving. I know that's not the case and so do you. I should add, to EVERY Parent reading this article, they know what they spend on their kids playing Paintball and quite frankly, it's nuts!

Going into business is a serious responsibility. There are laws to follow, NONE of which are ever given to you by the state. They expect each and every business person to know these rules/laws and abide by them, this is why we hire Lawyers and Accountants. This is why Banks require business plans, should you borrow money to get into business. If ANY one of the three didn't pick up on that before you went into business, well, my guess is that you went into business winging it and without professional advice.

Yes, there are actually some cases where a good lawyer is worth his weight in gold. Fortunately for me I have been surrounded by such professionals. Mistakes do happen but negotiating for two years and you still haven't settled on an amount due, you Sir are not serious about being in business. I'm sure the rest of us will pay for your failures through these Bailouts and or simply as a taxpayer in the state.

Mr. Hearne's situation is completely different from yours. Nice try on that one but you're completely wrong. Mr. Hearne didn't believe he owed any taxes on TEAM SPORTS for CHILDREN under 18 years of age. If you simply walked in the door and wanted to play an open game of volleyball, YOU WERE TAXED. If you were an adult, YOU WERE TAXED. The County didn't have enough room to provide ball fields for many TEAM SPORTS for children, so they went to the Crown and asked if they could provide the space. They did so but no one ever dreamed that HE/THEY would be taxed for Amusement for CHILDREN playing organized team sports. They don't charge a tax when you sign your kids up for sports.

Nevertheless, he owned up to his responsibility and quite frankly I'm amazed that the state is allowing you to continue operating your business while you still owe this money after 6 years of not doing so. While many might believe you need to stay in business in order to pay off that debt, I believe after what you've said above that they should close that business down immediately and take their losses. This would still require you to pay back that debt but all in all I do not feel one bit sorry for the position you are in. Get a Lawyer, get an Accountant and face this thing head on. Not doing so for six years, well, shame on the state. You're in a cash business and you don't abide by the rules. It's time you close down and go to work for someone who does.