Federal Court Bars Missouri Man from Preparing Federal Tax Returns

A federal court has permanently barred William Naes of St. Charles, Missouri, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The permanent injunction order, to which Naes consented, was entered by U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The government alleged that Naes prepared returns that fraudulently claimed tax deductions for his customers, including bogus deductions for charitable contributions and unreimbursed employee business expenses. According to the complaint, Naes also fabricated business expenses on Schedules C-Profit or Loss From Business, concocted a fake business for at least one customer and failed to properly identify himself as the paid preparer on many of the returns he prepared. As a result of his conduct, many of Naes’ customers paid less in taxes than they owed or improperly received tax refunds.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS' Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer. In the past decade, the department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 500 injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and tax return preparers. Information about these cases is available on the department 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.

Related Materials:

United States v. William Naes
Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction Against William Naes