Norfolk, Va. – A Virginia Beach tax preparer was sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.
49-year-old Paul Zimmerman Jr. pled guilty on July 11th.
According to court documents, Zimmerman owned and operated Paul’s Taxes and Services located on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Norfolk.
Zimmerman provided assistance with preparing federal income tax returns for his clients. After discovering errors and irregularities in tax returns filed by clients of Zimmerman, the Internal Revenue Service began an investigation.
The investigation showed that Zimmerman, without his clients’ knowledge, would claim illegitimate rental properties, inflate expenses related to legitimate rental properties, inflate business expenses, and claim mortgage interest payments on properties without mortgages, among other things.
This falsely reported information would result in lowering his clients’ tax liabilities or in generating refunds. Court documents state that Zimmerman aided and assisted in the preparation of 35 false tax returns for 17 different clients for tax years 2006-2009. The tax loss to the government was $102,704.
