Sherry Taggart Sentenced in $757K Tax Refund Scam

Sherry Taggart, 57, of El Dorado Hills, is going to prison for two years after pleading guilty to conspiring to file false tax claims that ripped off the IRS for more than $757,000. U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. handed down the sentence today in Sacramento, ordering Taggart to pay full restitution for her role in a sprawling tax refund scam that targeted the Earned Income Credit and exploited stolen identities.

From June 2012 to March 2014, Taggart teamed up with co-conspirator Barbara Antonucci, an unlicensed tax preparer, to file hundreds of fraudulent returns with the IRS. The scheme, which began in 2008, involved inflating wages, fabricating dependents, and claiming the refundable Earned Income Credit for clients who didn’t qualify. Many returns listed fake self-employment income—like ‘housekeeper’—with no W-2 documentation. The duo filed these false returns by mail and online from Sacramento, Yuba, and Placer Counties.

Taggart and Antonucci didn’t just cheat on behalf of clients—they filed false claims for themselves too. They used the personal identifying information of minors—names, Social Security numbers—whom they listed as dependents on returns for unrelated clients. This brazen identity theft helped them pull down more than $757,412 in illegitimate refunds. Altogether, the IRS was hit with over $2.5 million in false claims, losing more than $1.8 million during the full run of the operation.

The case was cracked by a joint investigation led by IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney André M. Espinosa prosecuted. Taggart pleaded guilty on September 23, 2016. She must surrender to begin her sentence on February 17, 2017.

Michael T. Batdorf, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, issued a blunt warning ahead of tax season: ‘This sentence represents adverse consequences for those tax return preparers who file false tax returns.’ He stressed that preparers must follow IRS rules and that taxpayers must review their returns before filing. ‘Ask questions when they do not understand what has been prepared,’ Batdorf said.

Rafael Nunez, San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, echoed the call for vigilance: ‘We are working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in law enforcement to arrest and prosecute those responsible for complex Identity Fraud Schemes.’ Antonucci was sentenced earlier, on December 2, 2016, to three and a half years in prison. The fallout from their greed is now serving as a warning to others playing fast and loose with the tax code.

RELATED: Barbara Antonucci Gets 3.5 Years for $1.8M Tax Scam