Charlotte Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Preparing False Tax Returns

A Charlotte, North Carolina tax return preparer pleaded guilty today to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to documents and information provided to the court, from 2011 through 2017, Shawanda Elmore owned and operated C and W Tax Professionals, a tax return preparation business in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Elmore fraudulently sought to inflate her clients’ tax refunds by claiming false education credits, as well as false itemized deductions and businesses expenses.  Elmore’s conduct caused a tax loss to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of over $500,000.

Elmore faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, as well as a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman and U.S. Attorney Murray commended special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Lauren Archer of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.