Source: United States Department of Justice News
The United States filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana seeking to bar a Louisiana tax return preparer and her business from assisting in the preparing of federal income tax returns for others.
The complaint alleges that Whylithia R. Robinson prepared and filed 2,629 federal income tax returns for customers though AAA Tax Service from 2019–2021. According to the complaint, Robinson displayed a pattern of filing tax returns during this period that understated the customer’s tax liabilities and overstated tax refunds by fabricating business losses, claiming false charitable donations, and/or falsely claiming education credits for customers who were not entitled to them.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.
Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.
In the past decade, the Department of Justice Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.