JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO BAR FT. LAUDERDALE MAN FROM PREPARING TAX RETURNS FOR OTHERS

Tax Preparer Allegedly Claimed Bogus Telephone and Fuel Tax Credits for Customers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States has brought suit against a Ft. Lauderdale man, seeking to bar him from preparing tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. According to the government’s complaint, Joshua Chikudo operates Quick Return Tax Services and Income Tax Services, which prepare federal income tax returns claiming fraudulent fuel tax credits.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, says that fraudulent fuel credits are a scam that is a serious enforcement problem for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Chikudo’s tax preparation businesses are in Broward and Dade Counties, Fla.

The government complaint alleges that the IRS has identified at least 350 federal tax returns Chikudo prepared claiming a total of more than $1 million in fraudulent fuel tax credits. Chikudo also allegedly prepares returns with bogus telephone excise tax refund claims and a number of other false claims.

The Justice Department obtained injunctions earlier this year against tax preparers in Miami and Dallas who allegedly claimed similar fraudulent fuel tax credits. More information about these cases can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07254.htm and http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07487.htm.

Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 245 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.