St. Louis, MO - The owner and operator of Discount Tax Service was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on charges of filing false tax returns. According to court documents, CHRISTOPHER MICKLES prepared over seven hundred and fifty federal income tax returns on behalf of his clients for tax years 2008 through 2011. Many of those returns contained falsely claimed fraudulent items and credits, such as household help income and earned income tax credits. In addition to the prison sentence, Mickles was ordered to pay restitution of $131,219.
"Criminal Investigation wants to make sure taxpayers do not pay good money for bad advice," said Sybil Smith, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, St. Louis Field Office. "Tax return preparers have a duty to their clients to prepare tax returns that comply with the law and are accurate."
Christopher Mickles, St. Louis, Missouri, pled guilty last October to four felony counts of aiding and abetting in the preparation of false tax returns. He appeared today for sentencing before United States District Judge E. Richard Webber.
This case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Dianna Collins handled the case for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
