The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against Mary Powell, a tax preparer in East St. Louis, Ill., and is seeking an injunction to shut down her service.
The department charges her with understating her clients’ tax liability by an average of about $2,800 per return. The IRS has looked at 109 of the more than 1,000 tax returns Powell has prepared since 2003, and estimates she has cost the Treasury Department $2.9 million in revenue.
The DOJ charges Powell with listing ineligible dependents, overstating business deductions, and falsifying earned income tax and education credits.
The department wants her to provide a list of her clients, along with their contact information and Social Security numbers.
