The Department of Justice urges taxpayers to choose their return preparers wisely as the April 18 federal tax filing deadline approaches. Unscrupulous preparers who include errors or false information on a tax return could leave a taxpayer open to liability for unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.
“Taxpayers should choose their return preparer wisely and remain vigilant against unscrupulous preparers, who often present clients with refunds that are too good to be true,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “If your preparer asks you to sign a blank return, refuses to sign your return as your return preparer, or is charging you a fee based on the size of your refund, consult the IRS’s website and tips to make sure you are not exposing yourself to trouble.”
“Tax preparers who falsify deductions, or otherwise seek to fraudulently inflate client refunds, face consequences,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “As the Tax Division’s work over the past year demonstrates, our prosecutors have the expertise and resources to identify crooked return preparers and hold them accountable for their criminal conduct.”
The Tax Division works with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices around the country to bring civil and criminal actions against dishonest tax preparers. The division seeks civil injunctions to stop ongoing fraud, civil penalties or disgorgement of...
A man waits to enter the Safeworks supervised consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary in this August 2021 file photo. The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions is bru...