Melinda Jacob, Tax Fraud, New York 2023

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Tax Preparer Melinda Jacob Shut Down for Tax Fraud in Brooklyn

A federal court in the Eastern District of New York has issued a permanent injunction against Melinda Jacob, a Brooklyn-based tax return preparer, permanently barring her and her business from preparing federal tax returns for others.

According to court documents, Melinda Jacob, individually and on behalf of her business Melinda Jacob Tax Services LLC, consented to the injunction following her guilty plea on February 5 for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.

As part of her guilty plea, Jacob agreed to be permanently barred from preparing or filing tax returns for others. The Justice Department’s civil complaint alleges that from 2019 through 2023, Jacob prepared more than 500 returns per year, which included returns that falsely claimed credits, deductions, or refunds for customers, improperly reducing their tax liability or inflating their refund.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that Jacob falsely claimed residential energy credits and education credits on her customers’ tax returns, even though those customers did not qualify for the credits. The complaint also alleges that Jacob claimed false filing status and fictitious dependents on customers’ returns to generate a larger refund to which the customers were not entitled.

As a result of the court’s order, Jacob must send notice of the injunction to each person for whom she prepared federal tax returns, amended tax returns, or claims for refund between January 1, 2019, to the present.

Taxpayers are advised to remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.

The Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers in the past decade. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page.