The South Florida Business Journal reports of yet another tax preparer fraud case:
For the fifth time in as many weeks, a South Florida [unenrolled] tax preparer has pleaded guilty to fraud.
Gary Bart Rosenfeld, 53, of Miami, operated Taxing Solutions between 2004 and 2007.
Rosenfeld is alleged to have filed fraudulent income tax returns for clients, in which he misrepresented wages, income and withholding amounts, and fabricated tuition payments, education credits and child care expenses, according to a news release from U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Total losses were $177,588.
Rosenfeld is also alleged to have prepared and filed tax returns on behalf of others without their permission.
Rosenfeld, who will be sentenced on Ocober 14th, faces up to a maximum of three years in jail for aiding in the filing of a false tax return and two years for aggravated identity theft. The sentences, if imposed, would run consecutively.
Here are the other cases involving unregulated preparer mischief:
On June 19, a former Lake Worth teacher who had her own tax preparation business pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
On June 18, a 30-year-old Miami woman pleaded guilty to charges she submitted false tax returns for clients.
On June 16, a former St. Brendan’s Catholic Church parishioner was sentenced to a little more than three years in prison for filing false tax returns for parishioners who were clients.
On that same day, a Hialeah woman was charged in a 45-count indictment with allegedly helping to prepare false tax returns.
And on June 10, the owner of a Miami tax preparation business pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
The Rosenfeld case proves once again that the lack of barriers to entry into the tax preparation field invites the wayward and the wicked to prey on unsuspecting taxpayers.
The IRS’s lack of a tax preparer monitoring regime is catnip to con-men and they are taking full advantage of it.
Related Posts:
- Tax Preparers Beware: Federal Regulation May be on the Way
- IRS to License and Regulate Unenrolled Preparers
- Unenrolled Preparers Not So Good, TIGTA Study Reveals:
Also, see Joe Kristan for cogent arguments against the regulation of unenrolled preparers.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Mary // Jul 27, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I’m heartened to see this. More comments here:
http://bedbuffalos.blogspot.com/2009/07/criminal-charges-and-penalties-for.html
2 Chuck McCabe // Jul 27, 2009 at 2:14 pm
We have been following the IRS movement to regulate unenrolled tax preparers and have compiled information and links to recent articles on our website at the URL below. I will be providing input at the IRS Public Forum in Washington, DC on July 30th.
http://www.theincometaxschool.com/tax-preparer-regulations.html
3 Peter // Jul 28, 2009 at 12:12 am
Chuck,
Thanks for visiting and thanks for the link.
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