JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ACTS TO SHUT DOWN SEATTLE TAX “CLINIC”

The following press release was published by the US Department of Justice on April 22, 2004. It is reproduced in full below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2004 WWW.USDOJ.GOV TAX (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department filed a civil injunction suit today in federal court in Seattle, Washington, seeking to bar Seattle resident Ronald M. Paul, individually and doing business as “The Tax Clinic,” from preparing allegedly false and fraudulent tax returns. The civil injunction complaint alleges that Paul prepares returns for customers that either claim inflated deductions or claim refunds of all past taxes paid based on a bogus doctrine he calls the “claim of right theory.” The complaint also alleges that Paul has falsely told customers that he is a certified public accountant and that he worked for the IRS, and that he advises his customers to ignore all correspondence from the IRS and to lie to the IRS when asked about their tax returns.

“Unscrupulous tax preparers can cost the Treasury millions of dollars by leading taxpayers to claim false deductions or unjustified refunds,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division. “One injunction against an unprincipled preparer is worth dozens of audits and enforcement actions against individual taxpayers. By using all legitimate tools, including injunctions, to enforce tax law compliance, the Department of Justice and the IRS ensure that the taxpaying public gets the most out of its enforcement dollars.” Information regarding the bogus nature of the “claim of right” theory is available at: http://www.irs.gov/irb/2004-12_IRB/ar12.html.

The Justice Department has obtained injunctions against promoters of other tax scams. Information on those cases can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2004.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2004.htm.

Information on the Justice Department’s Tax Division is available at: http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/04_tax_192.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/04_tax_181.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/04_tax_165.htm http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/04_tax_151.htm

Source: US Department of Justice