Idaho Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Filing False Returns

A Blackfoot, Idaho business owner pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, announced Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez Jr. for the District of Idaho.

According to documents filed with the court, from approximately 2009 through 2012, Jonathan Peirsol, 42, of Pocatello, Idaho, prepared false individual income tax returns under the name JJ Accounting Inc. Peirsol falsified returns without his clients’ knowledge by adding items such as medical and education expenses. For some of the returns Peirsol also diverted a portion of the refund into a bank account he controlled without his clients’ knowledge. Peirsol failed to report on his own tax returns the fees he earned from his tax preparation businesss. Peirsol also owns and operates J&J Chemical Inc., a janitorial chemical supply company in Blackfoot.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 11. Peirsol faces a statutory maximum sentence of three years in prison, a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. Pursuant to his plea, Peirsol consented to the entry of a permanent injunction barring him from preparing income tax returns for any individual or entity other than himself.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg and Acting U.S. Attorney Gonzalez thanked special agents of IRS–Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Trial Attorneys Lori Hendrickson and Kathleen Barry of the Tax Division, who are prosecuting the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division’s enforcement efforts can be found on the division’s website.