A Sioux Falls tax preparer skimmed his way into 9 years in prison after preparing over 2,200 returns that reported fictitious itemized deductions, including household and personal expenses, and Schedule C deductions for clients who did not own a business. The clients were mostly non-English speaking and the tax preparer provided their completed returns in a sealed envelope with the refund amount written on a Post-It note. At trial, the tax pro argued that just because the IRS knows that household and personal expenses aren’t deductible doesn’t mean the average sole practitioner would know that, and that he was just confused and uninformed when he prepared the returns. (U.S. v. Eviglo (May 5, 220) U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, Case No. 19-1123)
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