A Murrieta return preparer is reported by patch.com (here) to have received a sentence of home detention, probation, and community service, although the sentencing guidelines provided for up to 6 years in prison. Per reports, the refunds Falsely Claimed caused at least $175,000 in tax loss, but could have been almost $3 million. Unsurprisingly, I could not locate a DOJ press release on this sentence. The totality of the factors the U.S. District Court Judge, Hon. Dolly Gee, considered in issuing the sentence are not in the article, although it noted that he submitted to a Plea Agreement and had no prior felony convictions.

Per the article:

In one case cited in documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, a client was identified as a consultant to a non-existent business called Video Tech, showing losses for 2011 and 2012. However, the woman disavowed any knowledge of the consultancy or McCall’s use of Video Tech on her return.

One could speculate that the judge did not find this fact as very convincing, as it is hard to believe that a taxpayer would not notice an entire schedule C with a fake business on it (though it is possible). However, the judge’s train of thought on this is not known.

Per an earlier article in lawfuel.com (here):

In a the plea agreement filed in connection with today’s proceeding, McCall admitted that, between 2012 and 2014, he knowingly prepared and submitted at least 29 federal income tax returns for clients on which he (a) did not identify himself as the paid tax preparer; (b) attached a Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business form, that falsely claimed a net loss from a business supposedly owned and operated by the client; and (c) falsely claimed a tax refund due to the client.

That article noted that the tax loss resulting from the filing of these 29 false returns was at least $175,918, but, in the plea agreement, hundreds of other returns he prepared included Schedules C which similarly claimed substantial losses from a business, and “resulted in refunds claimed of approximately $2,998,946.”

Posted on 08/08/2019 by Daniel Layton.

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