The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, has permanently enjoined a Detroit-area tax return preparer from preparing federal income tax returns for others and from owning or operating any tax return business in the future.
According to the court's order entered November 5, Abdou Ndiaye and Ndiaye's LLC, dba Pro Tax Services, consented to entry of the injunction, with permits the United States to conduct post-judgment discovery to monitor compliance. The order requires that Ndiaye and Pro Tax Services send notice of the injunction to their prior customers.
The civil complaint filed against Ndiaye and Pro Tax Services alleged that Ndiaye reported fabricated business losses or income on his customers' returns, to either reduce a customer's legitimate W-2 taxable income or illegitimately increase the customer's earned income. These improper adjustments caused those individuals to claim earned income tax credits to which they were not entitled. The complaint also alleged that Ndiaye impermissibly lowered some of his customers' tax liabilities by falsely claiming head of household filing status for individuals who were not entitled to claim it.
Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department's Tax Division made the announcement.
Return preparer fraud is one of the IRS' Dirty Dozen Tax Scams and taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax preparer, has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers, and offers information on how to avoid "ghost" tax preparers, whose refusal to sign a return should be a red flag to taxpayers (https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional).
In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found at www.justice.gov/tax/program-shut-down-schemes-and-scams. For those whoe believe that a person or business may be violating an injunction, contact the Tax Division with details via the above website.
