Federal Court Permanently Enjoins Tax Return Preparer in Florida

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has permanently enjoined a Central Florida-based tax return preparer from preparing returns for others and from owning, managing or working at any tax return preparation business in the future. The United States will continue to pursue its claim for disgorgement against Kenia Rodriguez.  

Rodriguez consented to the permanent injunction. The terms of the permanent injunction require that Rodriguez, individually and under any business for which she conducts business, send notices of the injunction to each person for whom she prepared federal tax returns after Jan. 1, 2016, and post copies of the injunctions in places where she conducts business, including social media accounts and websites. The injunction also provides that the United States may conduct post-judgment discovery to monitor compliance.

The civil complaint filed against Rodriguez alleged that she, through a fictitious entity called Rodriguez Tax Services, claimed extensive fraudulent deductions and credits on customers’ tax returns to purposely underreport their tax liabilities and claim refunds they were not entitled to receive. The complaint also alleged that Rodriguez hid her tax preparation activity by failing to properly identify herself on the tax returns that she prepared.

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 the past decade, the Justice Department’s 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 on 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.