A brazen scheme to swindle the U.S. Treasury has been uncovered in Hixson, Tennessee, where a local man has been accused of preparing fake tax returns for unsuspecting customers.
The United States has filed a civil injunction suit against Kevin Walker, who allegedly prepared federal income tax returns with fake businesses, false profits, losses and expenses, and improperly claimed false employee business expenses and the Earned Income Tax Credit and education-related tax credits.
According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Walker’s activities over the last five years have cost the U.S. Treasury as much as $200,000 in lost income tax revenue.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that Walker’s activities have caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income tax revenue. The agency has also identified two returns prepared over a two-year period for one customer that claimed bogus receipts, but no expenses, from a fictitious business to maximize tax refunds based on the Earned Income Tax Credit. As a result, the customer erroneously received income tax refunds of more than $6,000 for the two years.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS’ Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2014. The IRS has some tips on their website for choosing a tax preparer. In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers.
The case against Walker is part of a larger effort to crack down on tax scams and protect taxpayers from unscrupulous return preparers. The public can help by being aware of the warning signs of tax scams and choosing a reputable tax preparer.
Information about the case is available on the Justice Department website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.
The U.S. Tax Court has ordered Kevin Walker to cease and desist from preparing and filing tax returns for others. The case is United States v. Kevin M. Walker, and the complaint for preliminary and permanent injunction can be found on the website.
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Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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