Government says tax preparer cost it millions

TAMPA — A federal district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has permanently barred Jeanne's Tax Preparation and Bookkeeping Inc. in Tampa and its owner Jeanne Covington from preparing federal income tax returns for others.

A suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Covington prepared returns that unlawfully understate income taxes and overstate refunds through a variety of methods, including fabricating or inflating business expenses that Covington's customers never paid or incurred. The complaint also alleges that Covington prepared returns that wrongfully claimed tax credits, including education credits and the residential energy credit.

The government alleges that Covington's falsified tax returns may have cost the U.S. Treasury millions of dollars.