Federal Court Shuts Down Mississippi Tax Return Preparer

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi permanently barred Tamara Brock from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.  Brock agreed to the entry of a final judgment of permanent injunction, which was entered by the court on April 10, 2014.

The complaint alleged that Brock, formerly a franchisee with Liberty Tax Service, prepared federal income tax returns for customers in Moss Point, Miss., and Pensacola, Fla.  According to the complaint, Brock prepared federal tax returns that included fictitious education expenses to qualify her customers to receive or to maximize the American Opportunity Credit on their federal tax returns.

The judgment also requires Brock to turn over to the United States a list of all individuals and entities for whom she has provided tax preparation services since Jan. 1, 2011, and to notify these customers of the permanent injunction against her.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS'   Internal Revenue Service's Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014 .  The IRS has some tips   on their website for choosing a tax preparer.  In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of fraudulent tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department   website .  An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found   on this page .  If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the   Tax Division with details.

Related Materials:

United States v. Tamara Brock
Stipulated Judgment of Permanent Injunction Against Tamara Brock