THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250266
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Republican state Sen. Frederick M. Quayle is having trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.
The agency has placed a $30,021 tax lien against Lawyers Title of Chesapeake Inc., a title insurance agency that Quayle and his wife have run out of his Chesapeake law office since 1984.
Quayle, a Chesapeake lawyer who has represented parts of Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Isle of Wight since 1992, said the taxes in dispute have been paid and he is negotiating with IRS officials over the amount of fines and penalties they are charging in the case.
``In 1989, we got a little bit behind in our taxes,'' Quayle said. ``It's just a brief period that I went through and that a lot of businesses go through.''
The IRS documents alleged that Quayle's company failed to pay quarterly federal withholding and Social Security taxes for all of 1989 and 1990.
The IRS fines could total between $13,000 and $14,000, Quayle said.
An IRS spokeswoman in Richmond Monday would not discuss Quayle's tax problems in detail, but said that, until the issue is resolved, the lien against his company will remain.
Another federal lien over $11,014 in withholding taxes was released last year against Quayle's title insurance business.
A federal tax lien puts a hold on property belonging to the taxpayer for the amount of the taxes due.
``Our taxes have been paid, almost to the year,'' said Quayle. ``There are some penalties on there, and we've made them an offer. We're waiting to hear back from them.''
Quayle is challenging the IRS because he believes the agency is ``incorrect,'' he said.
``We are trying to get them resolved. The lien is still there, and that's what we're talking to them about releasing.''
Quayle, a Republican, faces a tough re-election campaign this year, running against the Democrat he unseated in 1992, Johnny S. Joannou. Joannou served as a state delegate from 1976 to 1982 and then won election to the state Senate, serving from 1983 to 1991.
Quayle said he ``had every intension'' of letting the public know about his troubles.
Lawyers Title specialized in issuing insurance policies that cover challenges to ownership of property. If, for example, someone disputed an owner's rights to land, Quayle's firm would come in and defend its client's property title.
According to the State Corporation Commission, Quayle is listed as the president, treasurer and director of the company, while his wife, Brenda S. Quayle, is listed as vice president, secretary and director. Quayle said the firm has one employee, his law firm's secretary.
Quayle declined to say how much money the firm made during the period or how much he or his wife received in salary. All Quayle would say was the firm helped his law firm financially but was ``no major money-maker.''
In his most recent Senate financial disclosure form, filed in January, Quayle reported making more than $50,000 from the company the previous year.
On Monday, the State Corporation Commission received notice to dissolve Lawyers Title of Chesapeake Inc., which it did. At the same time, the SCC got a request from Quayle to incorporate Lawyers Title Chesapeake Corp.
The SCC said that on Monday Quayle also paid off a $60 corporate fee for 1995 that had been due April 1.
Until these items were settled, Lawyers Title of Chesapeake Inc. was considered ``not in good standing'' with the SCC, according to officials. Had the corporate fee not been paid by Aug. 31, the company would have no longer been able to operate in Virginia. ILLUSTRATION: State Sen. Frederick M. Quayle said the taxes have been paid
and he is negotiating the amount of fines and penalties.
by CNB