Yesterday, the Justice Department filed a complaint seeking to bar a Miami Gardens-based return preparer, Christopher Brown, and his business, Superior Taxes LLC, from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others.
The United States filed its civil complaint against Brown and Superior Taxes in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The complaint alleges that Brown and Superior Taxes prepare federal income tax returns on which he claims fraudulent credits and deductions to purposely underreport the tax his customers owe and claim inflated refunds. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Brown prepared returns that claimed incorrect “head of household” filing status, false or inflated business expenses and losses, as well as false residential energy credits and education credits. Brown also, according to the complaint, claimed the false filing status, expenses, and credits to maximize his customers’ earned income tax credit (EITC), and he failed to follow the IRS’s EITC due diligence requirements.
The government alleges in the complaint that Brown and Superior Taxes caused a tax loss of more than $5 million in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Wu of the Civil Division’s Tax Litigation made the announcement. Tax Litigation Branch attorneys Elizabeth Duncan and Rachel Iacangelo are handling the case.
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.
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