WASHINGTON D.C. – With the filing deadline just over two months away, federal officials announced today their results in combating fraudulent tax return preparation businesses along with individual preparers around the country.
Injunctions were obtained to shut down tax-return businesses in Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and California, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Taxpayers filed an estimated 142 million individual income tax returns for the 2011 tax year, with nearly 70 million taxpayers using a paid return preparer according to the IRS.
The return filing deadline for the 2013 tax year is on April 15, 2014.
In the last year, the division has obtained permanent injunctions against more than 60 preparers and promoters doing business all over the United States.
“The division’s attorneys and staff, along with our colleagues in the Internal Revenue Service, are working hard to shut down these abusive schemes and scams and punish the perpetrators where appropriate.” Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally for the Tax Division of the U.S. Justice Department.
As identified in the complaints, some of the fraudulent schemes and practices that have been stopped through injunction orders entered include:
- Preparing phony tax-return forms with fabricated businesses and income;
- Claiming false education and homebuyer credits;
- Claiming false and inflated deductions;
- Claiming false filing status;
- Claiming false dependents;
- Selling deceptive loan products and defrauding customers, who were largely low-income earners, by marketing false and fraudulent loan products to lure them into the tax-preparation offices;
- Filing tax returns without customer consent or authorization;
- Preparing bogus W-2 Forms, based on information from employee paystubs;
- Falsifying return information to claim inflated Earned Income Tax Credits;
- Preparing tax returns for cash payments, but not signing the tax returns; and
- Defrauding customers by requiring franchisees to charge phony and exorbitant fees.
Information about these cases is available on the department website .
The IRS offers some basic tips and guidelines to assist taxpayers in choosing a reputable tax professional and is also offering taxpayers a number of instructional YouTube videos to help them prepare their own taxes for the upcoming filing season.