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Press Release

Federal Court in California Shuts Down Tax Preparer

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

A federal court in Los Angeles has entered an order permanently barring John Trunzo from preparing federal income tax returns and other tax-related documents for others, the Justice Department announced today. Trunzo, who operated under the business names “Your Taxman John Trunzo,” “Your Taxman” and “YTJT” in Los Angeles County, consented to the civil injunction order, which was signed by U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald.

The government complaint, filed on February 14, 2013, alleged that Trunzo under reported gross receipts on his own income tax returns filed for the tax years 2005 – 2007, causing the government to incur a tax loss of $67,231 for those years. The complaint further alleged that Trunzo provided the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with false documents in order to convince auditors that his clients had incurred expenses that Trunzo knew they had not incurred, and were entitled to deductions that Trunzo knew were fabricated, which obstructed and impeded the IRS from determining his clients’ true tax liability.

In addition to barring Trunzo from preparing tax returns, Judge Fitzgerald also required Trunzo to create a website to inform his customers of the entry of the permanent injunction within thirty days.

As noted in the complaint, Trunzo was previously charged with one count of subscribing to a false income tax return. He entered a guilty plea to this charge. According to the plea agreement, filed in the criminal case on July 9, 2012, Trunzo agreed to enter into a binding civil injunction, barring him for life from aiding or assisting in the preparation of federal income tax returns for anyone other than himself and his legal spouse, and barring him from representing persons before the IRS.

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 . For more information about choosing a tax return preparer, see the IRS website and the IRS YouTube Channel .

Related Materials:

United States v. John Trunzo
Stipulated Order of Permanent Injunction (PDF)
Complaint for Permanent Injunction and Other Relief (PDF)
 

Updated February 5, 2025

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Press Release Number: 13-494