Federal Court Bars Texas Woman from Preparing Tax Returns

WASHINGTON - A federal district court in Texas has permanently enjoined Ludivina Salinas of Mission, Texas, from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. According to a government complaint filed in the case, Salinas claimed improper credits on customers’ federal income tax returns. Salinas agreed to the injunction without admitting the allegations in the complaint.

The complaint alleges that Salinas claimed Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs) on customers’ tax returns without conducting or documenting the investigation all return preparers must conduct under Treasury regulations before claiming the EITC. According to the government filing, Salinas’s firm, EZ Tax Services, also knowingly helped a customer claim a First-Time Homebuyer credit even though the customer had not purchased a home. The credit is available only to taxpayers who have purchased their first home.

The complaint also alleges that Salinas knowingly allowed customers to evade self-employment taxes by reporting self-employment income as wages or other income. Salinas allegedly asked her customers to sign form letters acknowledging that the client would not be paying self-employment taxes on their income from self-employment.

The suit alleges that Salinas prepared over 1,100 federal income tax returns in 2009 and claimed refunds on 99 percent of them.

In the past decade, the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 425 tax preparers and tax fraud promoters. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site.