Federal Court Bars Newark, N.J., Man from Preparing Federal Tax Returns

WASHINGTON - A federal court in New Jersey has permanently barred Luvander Hollaway from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The civil injunction order, to which Hollaway consented, was signed by Judge Stanley R. Chesler of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The government complaint in the case alleged that Hollaway, a resident of Newark, N.J., repeatedly failed to comply with due-diligence requirements imposed by federal law on tax preparers who claim the earned income tax credit (EITC) on their customers’ returns. According to the complaint, Hollaway also allegedly falsified reported income and listed fake dependents on his customers’ returns in order to claim the maximum EITC for them.

According to the complaint, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assessed penalties against Hollaway in 2006 for failing to comply with due-diligence requirements, and a follow-up IRS investigation in 2011 revealed continuing failures and fraudulent claims.

The court order requires Hollaway to produce to the government a list identifying all persons for whom he prepared federal tax returns or claims for refund since Jan. 1, 2009.

The IRS listed return-preparer fraud as one of its "Dirty Dozen" tax scams for 2011. In the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of tax-return preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website.