FLORIDA — The owner of a tax preparation business has been charged with tax fraud and contempt of court.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO), on April 11, a South Florida grand jury returned an indictment charging the owner of a tax preparations business with 15 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns and one count of contempt of court.
According to the indictment, Beatriz Toledo, 60, of Hialeah, Florida, allegedly prepared false and fraudulent tax returns for her clients between 2016 and 2021 through her company, Immigration and Tax Service Group LLC. The tax returns reportedly included false claims for the Residential Energy Credit, which allowed taxpayers to claim a credit for qualified energy-saving expenses.
Additionally, false itemized deductions were included for state and local sales taxes, business expenses, and other itemized deductions, said the USAO.
The indictment further alleges that due to these false claims, Ms Toledo’s clients’ taxable income decreased, increasing their tax refund.
The indictment also alleges that Toledo’s preparation of false tax returns on behalf of her clients violated a permanent injunction previously entered against her by a federal district judge in 2010. In 2009, the United States filed a suit against Ms Toledo to bar her from preparing false tax returns.
Toledo signed a joint motion for entry of a permanent injunction, which the district court entered on July 26, 2020, said the USAO.
The injunction reportedly prohibited Toledo from, among other things, preparing false tax returns through inflated claims for the deduction of business or employee expenses, assisting or aiding others to evade the payment of taxes or prepare false or fraudulent federal income tax returns, and preparing or assisting others in preparing documents that materially understated an individual’s income tax liability.
Despite these prohibitions, Ms Toledo reportedly continued to prepare false tax returns by overstating claims for the Residential Energy Credit. She itemized deductions to reduce her clients’ tax liability for tax years 2016 through 2021, as per the allegations in the indictment.
On April 18, Toledo appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman.
If convicted, Ms Toledo faces up to three years in prison per count and a fine of up to $250,000 on the tax charges, and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the contempt of court charge.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
IRS-CI, Miami Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig is prosecuting it.
An indictment contains mere allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
