Justice Department Sues to Permanently Enjoin Orlando Tax Preparer

Tax Preparer Allegedly Claims False Filing Status for Customers and Fabricates Deductions and Credits to Fraudulently Reduce Its Customers’ Tax Liabilities

March 25, 2010 - WASHINGTON - The United States filed suit today asking the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida to permanently bar Elisa Veronica Barron from preparing federal tax returns, the Justice Department announced. The civil injunction suit alleges that Barron prepares returns through Lancaster Tax Service Inc. in Orlando, Fla.

According to the complaint, Barron prepares tax returns using false information in order to reduce her customers’ tax liabilities. Specifically, the government alleges that Barron knowingly misrepresents her customers’ filing status and claims non-qualifying individuals as dependents on her customers’ returns. Additionally, the complaint alleges that Barron ignores or modifies information provided by her customers for the purpose of claiming false or overstated deductions and for claiming tax credits that her customers were not eligible to claim.

The government estimates in the complaint that this alleged fraudulent tax preparation scheme by Barron resulted in an understatement of her customers’ federal income tax liabilities of more than $1 million for returns that Barron prepared in 2006-2007 alone.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 455 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns.