A federal court in the Northern District of Illinois has permanently enjoined Sir Michael Joseph Davenport, a tax preparer from Joliet, Illinois, and his company, My Unity Tax Financial & Tax Preparation LLC (My Unity Tax), from preparing federal tax returns for others . .
Davenport is also prohibited from owning or operating any future tax return preparation businesses. The statute was approved by Davenport and his business.
The civil complaint filed in the lawsuit alleges that Davenport and My Unity Tax prepared false and fraudulent federal tax returns with the intent of reducing clients’ tax liabilities or obtaining improper tax refunds. The complaint alleges that Davenport and his company routinely reported false businesses, understated income or income, and fictitious or fraudulent expenses on clients’ tax returns to fraudulently reduce taxable income. According to the complaint, many of these businesses did not exist.
In addition, the complaint alleges that Davenport, despite holding a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) issued by the IRS, worked as a “ghost preparer.” This means that he did not sign the client’s tax returns, and did not identify himself as a paying preparer by including his PTIN on the returns he prepared for paying clients. Additionally, the United States alleged that Davenport and My Unity Tax used software intended for personal, non-professional use, to prepare clients’ tax returns, making it appear as if clients had completed their own returns.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division made the announcement.
