Federal Court in Chicago Permanently Bars Mother/Daughter Team from Preparing Tax Returns for Others

WASHINGTON – A federal district judge in Chicago has permanently barred Natalie Bradford, individually, and operating as K & N Tax Pros Inc., and Kristine Burkland-Valdez, individually, and operating as K & N Tax Pros Inc. and Tax Pros Inc., from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The court’s orders also prohibit Bradford and Burkland-Valdez from allowing others to use their names to advertise or otherwise promote any tax preparation business. Bradford and Burkland-Valdez consented to the civil injunction orders.

According to the government complaint in the case, the Elmhurst, Ill., company prepared 23,823 federal tax returns for calendar years 2005 through 2009. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examined 100 of these returns and found that 94% of the returns contained misstatements. The examinations of these returns resulted in the assessment of additional taxes totaling $830,147.

According to the complaint, the returns that the defendants, a mother-daughter team, prepared for customers contained fabricated or falsified deductions such as employee business expenses, mileage, cash contributions, rental losses and medical expenses. Court papers allege that in January 2009, Burkland-Valdez formed a second entity, Tax Pros Inc., after she learned of the IRS’s investigation of the tax preparation activities of K & N Tax Pros Inc.