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Press Release

Georgia Husband and Wife Tax Return Preparers Plead Guilty to Tax Crimes

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

Detrick and Natashia Tucker, a husband and wife who owned and operated a tax preparation business named T&T Express Tax located in Pine Mountain, Ga., pleaded guilty today to crimes relating to the preparation of false tax returns, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Michael J. Moore for the Middle District of Georgia.  Specifically, Detrick Tucker pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns, and Natashia Tucker pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in the assessment and collection of federal income taxes.

 

According to court documents, Natashia Tucker admitted that she conspired with Detrick Tucker to fraudulently inflate refunds on their clients’ tax returns in order to increase the popularity of T&T Express Tax and secure more business.  Detrick Tucker contributed to the conspiracy by registering T&T Express Tax with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) so that the false returns could be electronically filed and by performing managerial duties.  He also applied for an Electronic Filing and Identification Number and a Preparer Tax Identification Number rather than Natashia Tucker because she is a convicted felon.  Detrick Tucker then knowingly allowed Natashia Tucker to use these IRS registration numbers to file tax returns for clients as well as for her own 2010 and 2011 false tax returns.  Natashia Tucker was the main tax return preparer at T&T Express Tax, and she prepared the majority of the false tax returns at the business primarily by abusing the Earned Income Tax Credit and by creating false business information for her clients.  During its three years of operation, T&T Express Tax filed over 2,200 federal tax returns that claimed over $1,000,000 in false refunds. 

 

Detrick Tucker faces a statutory maximum potential sentence of three years in prison for his conviction for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.  Natashia Tucker faces a statutory maximum potential sentence of five years in prison for her conspiracy conviction.  They are both also subject to fines and mandatory restitution.  U.S. District Judge Clay Land scheduled the Tuckers’ sentencing for Mar. 25, 2014.

 

The case was investigated by special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Georgia Department of Revenue.  Trial Attorneys Alexander Effendi and Charles Edgar Jr. of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

 

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at www.justice.gov/tax .

Updated February 5, 2025

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Press Release Number: 14-028