Federal court bans Appleton tax preparer

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A federal court has barred an Appleton tax preparer and his firm from doing federal tax returns for others.

The U.S. District Court of Eastern Wisconsin issued a civil injunction order against Gerardo Garcia and his firm, Garcia Enterprises LLC.

Garcia agreed to the injunction but did not admit to the allegations made against him in the criminal complaint. Among the things Garcia was accused of was filing false and improper returns in 2015 even though the Internal Revenue Service had assessed $26,000 in penalties against him.

According to the complaint, Garcia prepared tax returns that listed phony businesses so he could understate their tax liability or inflate their refunds. In one instance, he is alleged to have prepared taxes for a customer who lost $10,000 over two years from an “aquaculture” business that did not exist. He is also accused of claiming dependency exemptions for clients, although he could not prove they supported those dependent children.

The injunction requires Garcia to provide to the state a list of all his customers since 2010 and to send a copy of the injunction order to all customers for whom he had prepared tax returns, according to a release. He must also provide a link to the injunction order on any website he has and post it in any office where he provides financial services.