A federal court permanently enjoined Siza Mhlanga, d/b/a Tax Refund Express, Camp Bowie Tax, Camp Bowie Tax Services, Tax Refund Company, and United Tax Refunds, of Fort Worth, Texas, from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. Mhlanga consented to the relief.
The complaint against Mhlanga, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Mhlanga repeatedly prepared returns that report fake deductions for charitable donations, business losses, and fabricated education and energy credits to generate tax refunds. For example, the complaint alleges that Mhlanga prepared a customer’s 2017 tax return on which Mhlanga fabricated a business for the customer and reported a fake business loss of $21,720. The complaint alleges that, over the course of tax years 2017 and 2018, Mhlanga filed hundreds of returns, and that by repeatedly understating his customers’ tax liabilities, Mhlanga caused the United States to lose substantial tax revenue.
“The Justice Department will pursue those who would abuse our nation’s tax laws,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division Richard Zuckerman. “Taxpayers should be vigilant so they do not file tax returns claiming false deductions.”
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department 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.
Source: Department of Justice. This site is made available by CHINA NEWS – Professional Chinese Press Release Distribution service, Great China and Asia PR service provider. 【专业中文新闻稿发布，大中华地区及亚洲网络公关服务商】。