On Friday, December 29, 2017, it was announced that two Jacksonville, Florida tax preparers had pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting others with the filing of fraudulent tax returns. 52-year-old Elizabeth M. Jordan and her daughter, 30-year-old Dolores A. Youmans, now face a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison. A date for sentencing has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreements, Jordan has worked as a tax preparer since 1990. Since 2011, she owned an operated a business offering tax return preparation services. Jordan, Youmans and others prepared individual income tax returns with accompanying forms and schedules at the business. When doing so, the defendants reported false information, including false deductions, false claims for education, and false claims of business expenses.
Elizabeth M. Jordan pleaded guilty to preparing and filing a fraudulent 2011 tax return. On that return, the defendant claimed that the taxpayer owned a business with no income and had $34,755 in expenses. She also claimed on the return that the taxpayer had $4,000 in education expenses and was entitled to an education credit of $1,000. In reality, the client was a wage-earning employee of a corporation. The taxpayer had not operated a business in 2011 and had not incurred any education expenses during that year.
As a result of Jordan’s actions, the IRS issued a refund of $10,021 to the taxpayer. Otherwise, the client would have only been entitled to a refund of $533. The IRS sustained a loss of $9,488. Youmans pleaded guilty to preparing and filing a fraudulent 2012 tax return. Her actions caused the IRS to take a loss of $11,287. Again, both defendants have pleaded guilty. Each will face a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison at the time of sentencing. Additional details regarding the charges can be found here.