Carlos Hinojosa, Tax Return Filing Fraud, Texas 2019

A tax return preparer has been sentenced to almost two years in federal prison for filing fraudulent client tax returns, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham. Carlos Hinojosa, 37, was sentenced yesterday to 22 months in federal prison.

Hinojosa pleaded guilty this summer to assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns. He worked as a tax return preparer at Miguelitos Tax Service, a tax preparation service located in Carrolton, Texas, from 2012 through 2016.

The investigation found that Hinojosa prepared tax returns that included false statements, such as false tuition expenses to make clients appear eligible for education credits that they knew the clients were not eligible to receive. Hinojosa admitted that he generally included these false expenses on his clients’ tax returns without their knowledge.

To conceal the falsity of the returns, Hinojosa attempted to have clients sign forms justifying the expenses. He admitted that he did not explain the forms to clients and most had no idea what they were signing. He further admitted that he charged clients cash for preparing their returns – sometimes as much as $2,000 – without informing them that Miguelitos would also deduct a tax preparation fee from their tax refunds.

Hinojosa agreed that his actions, along with the conduct of coconspirators at Miguelitos, resulted in a tax loss to the Internal Revenue Service of $7,306,191 for tax years 2010 through 2016.

Hinojosa’s sentencing is a result of an investigation conducted by the IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Brasher and Andrew Wirmani prosecuted the case.

In addition to Hinojosa’s prison sentence, Judge Ed Kinkeade ordered him to pay more than $6 million in restitution, joint and severally, to the IRS. His co-defendants, Mario Jose Sanchez, 48, and Magda Lopez-Sanchez, 51, were each sentenced to three years’ probation.

The case highlights the importance of tax compliance and the consequences of filing false tax returns. It also serves as a reminder to taxpayers to be cautious when selecting a tax return preparer and to carefully review their tax returns before signing.

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