The United States filed a civil injunction suit to permanently bar Smart Ilesanmi Ajayi, individually and doing business as Harplet Marketing LLC, Topps Tax Services, and Smart Tax Services, as well as JoAnn Villarreal, from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleges that Ajayi and Villarreal prepare and file tax returns that falsely increase their customers’ deductions or losses. As a result, the complaint alleges, the customers’ tax returns claim larger refunds than they were entitled to receive.
The complaint alleges that defendants’ have prepared returns with fabricated or inflated noncash charitable donation deductions. The complaint further alleges that the defendants have prepared returns with fabricated or inflated businesses losses on Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business).
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a return 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’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.
Source: US Department of Justice
