Durham Tax Preparer Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. B Matthew G.T. Martin, United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, announced today that SASHA SHABLEY JACKSON was sentenced to 30 months of imprisonment for aiding and abetting the preparation of false tax returns.

JACKSON, age 33, of Durham, N.C., had pleaded guilty before Chief United States District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder in federal court in Winston-Salem on March 6, 2020, to one count of tax fraud, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(2). Chief Judge Schroeder sentenced JACKSON on June 9, 2020.

According to documents filed with the court, JACKSON owned and operated Top Notch Professional Tax Services, in Durham, North Carolina, preparing tax returns for clients from 2015 to 2019. During that time, she knowingly and willfully prepared and caused to be filed with the IRS income tax returns that were materially false. The false items including false dependents, false income, false education credits, and false fuel tax credits, all of which produced fraudulently inflated refunds. The IRS determined that the tax loss attributable to JACKSON’s misconduct is $1,196,263.

In addition to the active sentence, JACKSON was ordered to serve a one year term of supervised release, pay a fine of $10,000, and pay restitution in the amount of $1,196,263. The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tanner Kroeger.

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