Maryland has been cheated out of more than $11 million by the state’s biggest 50 individual and business tax scofflaws, according to a list published Tuesday to shame the delinquents into forking over the money. “This is an issue of fairness,” said Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who released the list. “These people are just telling the state to go jump into a lake. We want to both put the spotlight on them and shame and embarrass them into paying up.”
| Top 10 individual Maryland scofflaws |
| Jacques and Marlene Rubin, Palm Beach, Fla.: $4.6 million |
| Bernard Segerman, Chevy Chase: $344,016 |
| David Hall, Baltimore: $332,541 |
| Mary Gerachis, Potomac: $254,116 |
| Charisse Smith, Bowie: $216,016 |
| Peter Pyen, Silver Spring: $208,310 |
| Paul Ewell, Berlin: $174,344 |
| William Marsteller, Bel Air: $163,177 |
| Spurgeon and Darlene Montgomery, Fort Washington: $142,512 |
| Deborah Seville, New Orleans: $129,909 |
| Source: Maryland Comptroller’s office |
Local governments throughout the Washington region are missing out on billions of dollars in tax revenue as residents have increasingly skirted tax laws amid economic turmoil.
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The top 25 tax scofflaws in the District owe about $5 million in income, sales and other nonproperty taxes, records show. Virginia recently stopped publishing a list of tax cheats, but officials in the Department of Taxation said the state was owed $1.8 billion in missing tax payments.
Maryland’s top tax delinquents are Jacques and Marlene Rubin, who are on the hook for $4.6 million and own an oceanfront residence in Palm Beach, Fla., the comptroller told The Washington Examiner. The couple did not return calls for comment, and Franchot declined to provide further details on any of the cases.
The Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics in Baltimore was named in recognition of the couple after they donated $4 million for the facility, records show.
Franchot said tens of thousands of tax scofflaws in Maryland owe the state tens of millions of dollars.
Atop the District’s delinquent taxpayers list is William M. Sloan, of Northwest, who owes $1.17 million. He is closely followed by Hyattsville trash hauler Septentrion Services Inc., which owes $601,323. Neither could be reached for comment.
Critics have dismissed such lists as privacy violations, but Maryland officials say they publish names only for those who fail to provide a reason for not paying or enter into a payment plan.
“They have the resources to pay these taxes, and yet they are just looking the other way,” Franchot said. “This program highlights those who enjoy the benefits of living in Maryland but allow their neighbors to shoulder all the financial costs.”
