South Carolina Woman Pleads Guilty to Preparing False Tax Returns

WASHINGTON – A McCormick, S.C., tax return preparer pleaded guilty today to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Teresa Little Moss, formerly known as Teresa Waller Little, appeared before U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs in Greenville, S.C.

According to court documents, Moss owned and operated The Little Tax Shop, a tax return preparation business with locations in McCormick and Abbeville, S.C. The business served clients from throughout the state. For tax years 2004 through 2007, she helped prepare false tax returns for numerous clients. The charges to which Moss pleaded guilty relate to the 2005 and 2006 tax returns of a particular client. The resulting tax loss is $18,977. The total tax loss that she caused is $557,429.

A sentencing date has yet to be set. Moss faces a sentence of up to three years in jail and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each of the counts to which she pleaded guilty.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John A. DiCicco of the Justice Department’s Tax Division commended the investigative efforts of the IRS agents involved in the case and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Tracy Gostyla and Michelle Petersen, who are prosecuting the case.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax/.