CALIFORNIA MAN BARRED FROM PREPARING FEDERAL TAX RETURNS BECAUSE OF ALLEGED "BOGUS DEDUCTIONS"

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Court Stops San Diego Man from Preparing Tax Returns

Tax Preparer Allegedly Claimed Bogus Deductions on Customers’ Tax Returns

A federal judge in California has permanently barred Michael I. Turner, of San Diego, from preparing federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today.

In the complaint, filed in August 2013, the government alleged that Turner has prepared returns since at least 2004 but failed to sign or affix a Preparer Tax Identification Number to many of the returns that he has prepared.  The complaint also alleged that Turner entered bogus deductions on his customers’ returns, primarily on the Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, in order to claim larger refunds for those customers.  Further, the government alleged that when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audited Turner’s customers, he provided the customers with false documents in an attempt to assist them in falsely substantiating charitable contributions and employee expenses that they did not incur.  Turner pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return in 2013.
         
In addition to barring Turner from preparing returns, the court’s civil injunction order bars Turner from serving as a representative on behalf of any person or entity before the IRS, and from owning, managing, controlling, working for or volunteering for a tax return preparation business.  In consenting to the injunction, Turner did not admit to the government’s allegations.

In the past decade, the Justice Department's Tax Division has obtained more than 500 injunctions to stop tax fraud promoters and tax return preparers.