BOISE - David Brannum, 55, now of Washougal, Washington, pleaded guilty on Jan. 10, 2019, in United States District Court to preparing false federal income tax returns for clients of his business, “Dave’s Tax Service," U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. Sentencing is set for April 17, 2019, before U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the Federal Courthouse in Boise.
Brannum pleaded guilty to one count of assisting, advising, and counseling clients to submit materially false federal income tax returns to the IRS. According to court records, from 2003 through 2015, Brannum operated his tax preparation business in Idaho and Nevada and submitted hundreds of federal income tax returns. Brannum often claimed false and fraudulent itemized deductions for his clients, which had the effect of decreasing their tax liability and generating improper refunds. Specifically, Brannum (1) inflated the amounts of his clients’ charitable contributions and (2) entered amounts for unreimbursed employee expenses that were not substantiated, that he inflated, or that he knew were not allowable. In total, Brannum’s criminal conduct resulted in over $101,000 in tax loss.
Assisting, advising, and counseling clients to submit materially false federal income tax returns to the IRS is punishable by up to three years imprisonment, a term of supervised release of up to one year, and a fine of up to $250,000.
This case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigations division.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
