Federal Court Permanently Shuts Down New York Tax Preparer

A federal court in the Eastern District of New York issued a permanent injunction yesterday against a Brooklyn, New York, tax return preparer.

Melinda Jacob, individually and on behalf of her business Melinda Jacob Tax Services LLC, consented to the injunction, which permanently bars her and her business from preparing federal tax returns for others.

On Feb. 5, Jacob pleaded guilty to aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. As part of her guilty plea, Jacob also agreed to be permanently barred from preparing or filing tax returns for others.

According to the Justice Department's civil complaint, from 2019 through 2023, Jacob prepared more than 500 returns per year, which included returns that falsely claimed credits, deductions or refunds for customers which improperly reduced their tax liability or inflated their refund. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Jacob falsely claimed residential energy credits and education credits on her customers' tax returns, even though those customers did not qualify for the credits. The complaint also alleges that Jacobs claimed false filing status and fictitious dependents on customers' returns to generate a larger refund to which the customers were not entitled.

As a result of the court's order, Jacob must send notice of the injunction to each person for whom she prepared federal tax returns, amended tax returns or claims for refund between Jan. 1, 2019, to the present.

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 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and ways to safeguard their personal information.

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.