Justice Department Sues to Permanently Enjoin Florida Tax Return Preparer

St. Petersburg, Fla., Tax Return Preparer Allegedly Fabricated and Inflated Deductions and Credits to Fraudulently Reduce Customers’ Tax Liabilities

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2013-01-29

The Justice Department filed suit today asking the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to permanently bar Torrey Burden from preparing federal tax returns for others. The civil injunction suit alleges that Burden prepares returns through A&L Financial Solutions in St. Petersburg, Fla.

According to the complaint, Burden prepares tax returns using false information in order to reduce his customers’ tax liabilities. Specifically, the government alleges that Burden claims false or overstated deductions and claims tax credits that his customers were not eligible to claim. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has examined 80 returns prepared by Burden and found that 92.5 percent resulted in additional taxes owed. As alleged in the complaint, the IRS projects that the tax loss from the returns prepared by Burden could exceed $1,000,000.

Over the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained hundreds of injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and dishonest tax return preparers.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

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