Federal Court Permanently Shuts Down Detroit Tax Preparation Business

On Sept. 25, a federal court in Detroit, Michigan has permanently barred Tax Pioneer Co. and its owner Dieasha Davis from operating a tax return preparation business and preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. Tax Pioneer Co. and Davis agreed to the civil injunction order entered against them.

According to the suit filed in January 2017, Davis, a former manager and tax return preparer for a Liberty Tax Service franchisee, prepared fraudulent tax returns both during her time at Liberty Tax Service and, since 2013, at Tax Pioneer. Davis and Tax Pioneer prepared tax returns with false or inflated income and expenses, bogus dependents, improper filing statuses, and false itemized deductions, all with the purpose of fraudulently maximizing customer refunds and refundable credits, according to the complaint. The government also alleges that Davis advised at least one customer audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to submit false records to the IRS in an effort to convince auditors that bogus expenses claimed on the customer’s tax returns were, in fact, legitimate.

Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017.  The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.  Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s 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.