FEDERAL COURT PERMANENTLY BARS HARTFORD WOMAN FROM PREPARING TAX RETURNS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal court in Hartford, Conn., has permanently barred Snezana Berbic of that city from preparing federal tax returns for others. The permanent injunction, to which Berbic consented, was entered by Chief Judge Robert N. Chatigny of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

The government’s complaint alleged that federal income tax returns prepared by Berbic claimed false filing status, false dependent exemptions, fictitious rental real estate losses, deductions for fictitious or inflated student loan interest, deductions for fictitious or inflated medical expenses, and deductions for fictitious or inflated charitable contributions. Addtionally, the government alleged that Berbic claimed deductions for fictitious or inflated unreimbursed employee expenses for work clothes and mileage, fictitious or inflated education credits, and fictitious or inflated earned income credit. The complaint also alleged that an examination of just 828 of the over 5,000 tax returns prepared by Berbic revealed a tax liability understatement of $1,268,723 for the examined returns. Examinations of returns prepared by Berbic are ongoing throughout New England and in New York.

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 250 tax return preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information about these cases in available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. Information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.