U.S. sues couple for nearly $2M in back taxes

Federal authorities are asking a judge to order the sale of properties owned by a Bethel Park couple who, according to the IRS, owe nearly $2 million in employment taxes for two businesses dating to the 1980s.

The Justice Department filed the complaint this week to enforce liens against Jack and Mary Kalogeris for their house on Forest Road; Mr. Kalogeris’ electrical contracting business, JKECO Electric, on Industrial Boulevard; a lot on Churchill Road; and an apartment building the couple own in Dormont.

According to the IRS, the Kalogerises owe a total of $1.9 million on tax liabilities dating as far back as 1983, including $161,722 in taxes withheld from employees of Deion Electric, Mr. Kalogeris’ former company, that he never paid to the IRS.

That amount has since accrued to nearly $1.5 million, according to the complaint.

Mr. Kalogeris also owes $430,000 in unpaid FICA taxes, which go to Social Security and Medicare, from the mid-1980s as general contractor for a Baldwin company called Off the Wall Racquetball Associates and another $39,000 in unemployment taxes from that business.

The government sued Mr. Kalogeris for the money in 1996, and a federal judge entered a judgment against him that year for $519,131.

He never paid, according to the government, and in 2017, the IRS asked for a renewal of the judgment. U.S. District Judge David Cercone granted it.

As of May 21, 2021, the total amount the couple owe is $1,964,673, according to the IRS.

The Kalogerises have owned their various properties since the 1960s and ’70s. The federal complaint requests that a judge order the properties to be sold and the proceeds used to pay the tax bills.

An attorney listed for Mr. Kalogeris did not respond to a request for comment.