Federal Court Permanently Bars Detroit Area Former Liberty Tax Service Franchisee From Preparing Tax Returns | WPN World People News

A federal court in Detroit, Michigan has permanently barred a former Liberty Tax Service franchise owner and his operating company from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced on November 15. The civil injunction order prohibits Craig M. Comer and Comer Inc. from acting as federal tax return preparers and operating a tax return preparation business. Comer and Comer Inc. agreed to the civil injunction order entered against them.

On Jan. 28, the government filed suit against Comer and Comer Inc. and alleged that their five Detroit area Liberty Tax Service stores prepared federal income tax returns that improperly inflated claims for tax refunds and refundable credits for customers during 2013, 2014 and 2015. According to the government’s complaint, the defendants also altered completed, customer-signed tax returns to increase the fees they charged customers and then forged the customers’ signatures on the returns when re-signing and filing them with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). As of March, Comer and Comer Inc. claimed to no longer own or operate any Liberty Tax Service stores. The court order, among other prohibitions, bars the defendants from operating a tax return preparation business and includes disbarment from practice before the IRS in any capacity.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice