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Press Release

Justice Department Sues to Stop Tennessee Man from Preparing Tax Returns

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Return Preparer Allegedly Claimed False Tax Deductions and Tax Credits on Customers’ Tax Returns

The United States filed a civil injunction suit against a Hixson, Tennessee, man to enjoin him from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Kevin Walker is alleged to have prepared federal income tax returns for his customers with fake businesses; reported false profits, losses and expenses; improperly claimed false employee business expenses and falsely claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit and education-related tax credits.  According to the complaint, two returns prepared over a two-year period for one customer claimed bogus receipts, but no expenses, from a fictitious business so as to maximize tax refunds based on the Earned Income Tax Credit.  As a result, the customer erroneously received income tax refunds of more than $6,000 for the two years.  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that Walker’s activities over the last five years have cost the U.S. Treasury as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income tax revenue.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ 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 unscrupulous 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. Kevin M. Walker
Complaint for Preliminary and Permanent Injunction

Updated July 7, 2016

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Press Release Number: 14-1076