A tax preparer from Atlanta will spend more than a year in jail for helping customers file fake tax returns to trick the IRS.
Kyle Self, 48, was the owner of DeKalb Tax Services LLC, also known as Tax Shield and Instant Tax, according to the claims and evidence presented in court.
Officials think that between 2015 and 2018, Self filed fake tax returns for clients that had wrong information about IRA and tuition deductions, capital losses, and other things.
Also read: Atlanta Will Soon Become a Main Location for Top Technology Companies to Operate
According to authorities, Self included many bogus assertions on the tax return of one person.
It includes claiming capital losses on investments she never owned, claiming IRA deductions when she did not have an IRA account, and claiming tuition deductions when neither she nor her son attended school.
According to authorities, Self even claimed that the taxpayer’s kid was handicapped, pocketing most of the money from the exaggerated tax returns.
Officials assert that Self defrauded the IRS of almost $428,000 in fraudulent returns.
“Kyle Self fraudulently inflated the amount of tax refunds owed to his customers in order to profit himself,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.
This case sends a strong message to other dishonest tax preparers that people who take advantage of the tax system for their own gain will be found and prosecuted.
Self got 15 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, after pleading guilty and being convicted of cheating the IRS. In addition, he must pay nearly $422,000 in reparations.
