New York City Tax Return Preparer Indicted for Aiding or Assisting in Preparation of False Tax Returns

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned an indictment today charging a Brooklyn, New York, tax return preparer with 31 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.  

According to the indictment, between 2008 and 2010, Phillip Baynes operated a tax preparation business called Small Mans Accounting and Tax Service in Brooklyn.  During that time, Baynes allegedly prepared false individual income tax returns for taxpayer clients.  On the returns, Baynes falsified business expenses and losses, charitable contributions and unreimbursed employee expenses.

If convicted, Baynes faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each count. 

Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended the special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, who investigated the case, and Trial Attorneys Mark Kotila and Brittney N. Campbell of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case. 

An indictment is not a finding of guilt.  An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceeding.