6080 Bird Rd. — Reported South Florida Tax Enforcement Context
A federal court has permanently banned a Miami-area tax return preparer from the business after finding that the majority of returns he filed were loaded with fabricated deductions and credits. Aniel Saint-Hilaire is barred for life from acting as a return preparer, preparing or advising on anyone else’s taxes, or even investing in or drawing a paycheck from a tax-preparation business, and he has been ordered to pay back more than half a million dollars in what the court called ill-gotten gains.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered the permanent injunction, according to FINCHANNEL. The order prohibits Saint-Hilaire from acting as a return preparer, preparing tax returns, or advising others in the preparation of tax returns, per the U.S. Department of Justice. The injunction also bars him from working in, investing in, or receiving fees from any tax-preparation business going forward.
Fabricated Deductions Across Nearly Six in Ten Returns
The district court found that 59 percent of the returns Saint-Hilaire prepared contained fictitious items. Per a magistrate judge report, Saint-Hilaire filed federal income tax returns using other preparers’ PTINs and prepared returns that understated taxpayers’ liabilities. The report also found he fraudulently claimed deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses, fuel tax credits, residential clean energy credits, and health savings account deductions…