Renowned Boston chef Barbara Lynch and her restaurants owe more than $1.6 million in unpaid taxes, the city said in a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The city filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court in an effort to recover the tax money, which is still accruing by about $367 every day, according to its complaint.
"Ms. Lynch has failed, directly and through her corporate entities, to pay taxes due and owing to the City of Boston despite clear notification," the complaint says, noting her announcement last month that she was closing her last two restaurants.
No. 9 Park owes the most of all Lynch's restaurants, more than half a million in taxes dating back more than a decade, according to the lawsuit.
Asked about the lawsuit, a representative for Lynch shared this statement with NBC10 Boston: "Ms. Lynch does not, nor has ever owned the properties of the restaurants. Each restaurant is a distinct LLC. We are learning of this for the first time in the press and the matter has been referred to the company lawyers."
Lynch herself and the restaurants' corporate entities didn't pay personal property tax for many years, except one payment from each one of the entities in August 2021, according to the lawsuit. It describes the corporate ownership of her Boston restaurants, saying the proceeds from the sale of her restaurants would be funneled "through the entities and ultimately at least in part to herself individually."
Lynch has been named a best U.S. chef and outstanding restaurateur by the James Beard Foundation. In 2017, she was listed as one of Time's 100 most influential people.
