Date: November 23, 2020 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Houston, TX — A tax preparer has been charged with preparing a fraudulent joint 2013 tax return for taxpayers. Norma Galvan is expected to make her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam S. Sheldon at 2 p.m. today. The charges allege Galvan prepared materially false information on her clients' joint 2013 income tax return. She allegedly claimed those taxpayers had a business loss of more than $53,000 and over $25,000 in income tax withholdings. As a result the tax return falsely claimed a refund of more than $18,000, according to the criminal information. If convicted, Galvan faces up to three years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine. IRS - Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles J. Escher is prosecuting the case. A criminal information is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
