Irving Brown Sr., Federal Tax Return Preparer, Barred from Practicing in Chicago, Illinois
A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against Irving Brown Sr., a retired Chicago Fire Department captain, from preparing federal tax returns for others in the Chicago area, the Justice Department announced. Brown Sr. operated a seasonal tax return preparation business out of his Chicago home called Irving Brown, Sr. Tax Services, preparing more than 1,600 federal tax returns from 2011 to 2015.
The court found that Brown, Sr. engaged in a variety of ways to underreport his customers’ tax liabilities, including fabricating the existence of small businesses with high expenses and inflating itemized deductions in order to offset earned income on his customers’ tax returns. The court also determined that Brown Sr. routinely fabricated itemized deductions such as charitable contributions and unreimbursed employee expenses.
For example, on one of his customer’s returns, Brown Sr. reported more than $3,000 in parking expenses as unreimbursed employee expenses when the customer did not drive to work or park any car at work. The court noted that this customer did not even have a car for that particular year.
In addition to underreporting his customers’ tax liabilities, the court determined that Brown actively attempted to impede and obstruct the IRS’s investigation into his preparation activities. For example, the court found that Brown offered to pay $3,000 towards a customer’s tax liability if the customer agreed not to turn Brown in or sign an affidavit implicating him.
The court’s ruling noted that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audited 94 returns prepared by Brown Sr. and found that all but two required an adjustment by the IRS. Based upon these audits, the total tax deficiency was more than $700,000, and the IRS projects that the tax loss is well in excess of $1 million, according to the court’s findings.
Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division thanked the revenue agent of the IRS–Small Business/Self-Employed Division, who conducted the investigation and Trial Attorneys Jordan A. Konig and Mary A. Stallings of the Tax Division, who litigated this case.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’s Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2017. The IRS has tips on its website for choosing a return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers.
Irving Brown Sr., a 55-year-old retired Chicago Fire Department captain, will be permanently barred from preparing federal tax returns for others in the Chicago area.
Related Federal Cases
- Michael Jett Sentenced to 23 Months for Tax Evasion, MO, 2023 · Georgia
- Yerfri Castillo, ID Theft Tax Scam, NY, 2023 · Puerto Rico
- Eric Holub, Tax Withholding Fraud, Cedar Rapids IA, 2023 · Iowa
- Katherine Nicholle Brown, Embezzled $410,000, Jefferson City MO, 2012 · Missouri
- Alicia Jackson Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud U.S. Tax Retu… · Illinois
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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