New York Tax Preparer Sentenced for Tax Fraud

Howard Levine, owner of a Dix Hill, New York, tax preparation business, was sentenced to thirty-seven months in prison for tax crimes, the Justice Department and IRS announced April 26, 2012. Levine was also ordered to pay $320,998 in restitution to the IRS.

On January 5, 2012, Levine pleaded guilty to obstructing the Internal Revenue laws and aiding in the preparation of false income tax returns for clients.

According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, Levine owned and operated Milaur Associates, also known as Milaur Inc. Many of the tax returns prepared by Levine for 2004 through 2009 were false and contained fictitious deductions, business expenses, and corporate losses. According to court documents, Levine admitted to preparing no fewer than fifty-six false income tax returns, resulting in a tax loss of more than $620,000.

In 2009, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an injunction that barred Levine from preparing federal income tax returns for anyone other than himself. According to the plea agreement, Levine violated that court injunction and continued to prepare false income tax returns for clients. In order to obstruct and mislead the IRS from determining his role in preparing the returns, Levine provided false information in the paid preparer section of the returns he prepared.