Justice Department Seeks to Shut Down Augusta, Ga., Tax Return Preparer

WASHINGTON - The United States has filed suit seeking to permanently enjoin Endia Delores Nipper and her company, TDNS Tax Services, from preparing federal tax returns, the Justice Department announced today. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, alleges that Nipper fabricated or inflated earned income tax credit claims on tax returns that she prepared for her clients. TDNS is located in Augusta, Ga.

According to the government’s complaint, Nipper has prepared close to 4,000 income tax returns each year since 2007, and approximately 50 percent of those returns claimed the earned income tax credit. Audits by the Internal Revenue Service resulted in the disallowance or reduction of the earned income tax credit in nearly 90 percent of the returns audited. The average adjustment on the audited returns was in excess of $4,000.

This civil injunction is part of the Justice Department’s nationwide crackdown on tax scams, including the preparation of fraudulent federal tax returns. Since 2001, the Justice Department has obtained hundreds of injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax.