A federal judge has ordered that Carrie Ann Shafer stop preparing tax returns.
In a decision issued today, Judge Gary Fenner said the Oronogo woman is permanently prevented from preparing any tax returns or tax forms or representing anyone in any way before the Internal Revenue Service. The decision was reached after government attorneys said Ms. Shafer was preparing fraudulent returns.
After she is served with this order, Ms. Shafer has 11 days to turn over to the government all records which identify names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of all persons for whom she has prepared tax returns.
Fenner said the court will maintain jurisdiction over this case to keep an eye on Ms. Shafer and to "guard the public interest."
All of her customers will receive the following notice, according to court records:
"The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri has entered an order called a permanent injunction against Carrie Ann Shafer, who does business under the name 'TC's Taxes and More.' A copy of the permanent injunction is enclosed. You are receiving this notice because Ms. Shafer has identified you as one of her customers.
"In the permanent injunction, the court ordered Ms. Shafer not to prepare any more federal tax returns for anyone. The court has also ordered Ms. Shafer to give the government a list of her customers, which includes you. Ms. Shafer is also not permitted to accompany her customers to meetings at IRS office or submit documents to the IRS on behalf of her customers.
"The Court has found that Ms. Shafer has been preparing fraudulent federal tax returns that claim fictitious or overstated itemized deductions. If Ms. Shafer prepared a tax return for you that did not correctly report your itemized deductions or your tax liability, you may be subject to civil or criminal tax penalties, or both. You may wish to contact a licensed attorney or certified public accountant to determine whether any tax returns that Ms. Shafer prepared for you were improper and what you should do to correct any false or inaccurate returns.
"If you have any questions about this permanent injunction, you should contact Gregory Van Hoey, trial attorney, U. S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, at 202-307-6391."
According to court documents, Ms. Shafer has been preparing tax returns full-time since 2002, with most of her customers living in Missouri, though she has some in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
"Since at least September 2003, Shafer has been preparing original and amended federal income tax returns for tax years 2000-2003 that claim fictitious or inflated itemized deductions for various expenses, including medical and dental expenses, charitable contributions, and unreimbursed employee business expenses."
With one customers, court documents said, "Shafer also claimed an inflated child-care expense credit based on child-care services that Shafer knew had never actually been provided to, or paid for by, the customer."
Because of these and other machinations, court documents indicate, Ms. Shafer's customers received tax refunds to which they were not entitled.
"In addition to preparing fraudulent tax returns,l Shafer has encouraged at least one of her customers to provide false information to the IRS at an examination meeting," the court documents said.
The federal government's urgency to have this resolved, court documents said, was because Ms. Shafer was still doing 2004 tax returns for her customers.