A Kansas City resident admitted in federal court to preparing and filing false income tax returns for others. Tanisha Spencer, 35, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill Morris to aiding in the preparation of a false tax return.
Court documents show that Spencer prepared income tax returns for individuals who contacted her through Facebook. She conducted this work at 4300 Bellefontaine, Kansas City, Missouri, and submitted the returns electronically to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Kansas City. The filings included fraudulent Sick Leave and Family Leave credits, illegitimate fuel tax credits, and falsely inflated federal tax withholdings.
By including these fraudulent items on her clients’ tax returns, Spencer enabled them to receive refunds they were not eligible for if their returns had been accurately prepared. She charged fees ranging from $500 to $14,840 per return. In total, she prepared 156 returns claiming $4,047,531 in refunds; the IRS paid out $689,872.
According to federal law, Spencer faces up to three years in prison without parole. The actual sentence will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines and other statutory factors after a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
“This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.”
