The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued a permanent injunction yesterday against Atlanta tax return preparers Mabika Ilunga, Simon Ilunga Sr., and Simon Ilunga Jr., both individually and doing business as Metro Insurance and Tax Service (together, the Defendants). The injunction bars the Defendants from preparing tax returns, working for, or having any ownership stake in any tax preparation business, assisting others (including family members) prepare tax returns or set up business as a preparer, and transferring or assigning customer lists to any other person or entity. The Defendants agreed to the terms of the injunction and to pay back to the United States $600,000 in ill-gotten gains they received from their return preparation business.
According to the complaint, the Defendants prepared and filed tax returns that falsely understated their customers’ federal income tax liabilities by fabricating, among other things:
- Eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
- Businesses and related business expenses and losses;
- Education and qualified electric vehicle credits;
- Unreimbursed employee business expenses; and
- Dependents and filing status.
As a result of the court’s order, the Defendants must post a copy of the injunction at all locations where they conduct business, and post a link to the injunction on their business’s website.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Wu of the Civil Division’s Tax Litigation Branch made the announcement. Tax Litigation Branch attorney Daniel Causey handled this matter.
Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should 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.
In the past decade, the Department of Justice has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. 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