Justice Department Sues to Shut Down Florida Return Preparer

The Justice Department filed a civil injunction suit yesterday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The suit seeks to bar a Broward County, Florida, tax return preparer and his business from owning or operating a tax return preparation business and preparing tax returns for others.

The complaint alleges that Suni Ramchandani and his business SR Chandra Inc., doing business as AHS Income Tax Service, prepare federal tax returns for customers on which the preparers claim fraudulent deductions and credits to purposely underreport the tax their customers owe and claim refunds their clients are not entitled to receive. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Ramchandani and AHS prepare returns with false or inflated deductions, business expenses and business losses, as well as false claims for residential energy credits, fuel tax credits and other credits. The complaint also alleges that Ramchandani and AHS file returns that include a Form 8888 (Allocation of Refund), diverting customers' additional refund amounts to bank accounts associated with Ramchandani without their customers' knowledge or consent.

The government further alleges that Ramchandani and AHS prepare thousands of tax returns each year, and that when the IRS examined dozens of returns for 2022 and 2023, between 78-82% of the examined returns had errors and fabrications. According to the complaint, the repeated understatement of tax has harmed the United States by causing a revenue loss of approximately $11 million over the past two years. In addition to seeking an injunction against Ramchandani and AHS, the government has requested an order of disgorgement to prevent them from profiting from their violation of the internal revenue laws.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department's Tax Division made the announcement.

Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS also offers guidance on the credentials and qualifications that taxpayers should seek from their return preparer.

In addition, IRS Free File, a public-private partnership, offers free online tax preparation and filing options on IRS partner websites for individuals whose adjusted gross income is under $79,000. For individuals whose income is over that threshold, IRS Free File offers electronic federal tax forms that can be filled out and filed online for free.

In the past decade, the Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department's website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.