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Texas tax return professional accused of tax crimes

June 5, 2020

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Federal prosecutors recently announced criminal charges against a tax preparation professional from San Antonio, Texas. The prosecutors have charged the man with two counts of assisting in the preparation of false tax returns and one count of filing false or fraudulent returns for his own, personal tax returns.

What were the details of the allegations?

The government has accused the tax professional of filing fraudulent tax returns for at least 30 clients and falsely filing his own tax returns. Representatives for the prosecution state the accused took questionable tax deductions for clients in an attempt to reduce their tax obligations. The government has also accused the tax return preparer of failing to report income on his personal tax filings and taking questionable tax deductions.

Overall, the government states these actions resulted in over $270,000 in lost tax revenue. The investigator working the case recently stated that once the government thoroughly review all the evidence, he expects the actual total to be closer to $1 million.

The allegations stem from crimes allegedly committed in 2013. The date is of note, as the statute of limitations for this type of crime is generally six years from filing the return.

How is the case proceeding?

Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the case is proceeding primarily remotely. The parties made initial court appearances via video conference. The accused has stated he is currently in negotiations with the prosecution.

If convicted, he faces up to $250,000 in monetary fines and a potential three-year prison sentence for each charge. Defenses for such allegations are available. One example could include that the deductions were allowed. This would require copies of documents to support the deductions.

IRS