DOJ Seeks to Shut Down Chicago Tax Preparer

The Justice Department has asked a federal court in Chicago to bar Bruce E. Grant and his business, Quick Check Limited, from preparing tax returns.

The civil injunction suit alleges that Grant falsified income on customers’ tax returns, frequently by fabricating business income and expenses, in order to claim the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit.  

 According to the complaint, Grant fabricated businesses and reported fake business income and expenses on his customers’ tax returns to achieve reported income in the EITC “sweet spot,” the range of earned income generating a maximum EITC.

 The complaint alleges that Grant pleaded guilty in 2006 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, based on allegations that Grant charged customers a fee for listing a false dependent on the customers’ tax returns.  According to the complaint, Grant’s Social Security number also identified him as the paid preparer on 2,555 individual income tax returns prepared in 2011. Of these returns, 2,543 requested a refund, a refund rate of 99.5 percent.

The government now seeks to bar Grant permanently from preparing federal tax returns, according to the DOJ.

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