North Carolina tax return preparer pleads guilty to aiding in the preparation of a false tax return

 

Date: October 13, 2022

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Greensboro, NC — A Durham woman pleaded guilty on October 12, 2022, to the charge of aiding and assisting in the filing of a false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston of the Middle District of North Carolina and Special Agent in Charge Donald "Trey" Eakins of IRS-Criminal Investigation, Charlotte Field Office.

According to court documents, Amanda Caldwell willfully aided and assisted in the preparation of false tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Caldwell worked at Tax Time Solutions, LLC, located in Durham, North Carolina as a tax return preparer along with Whitney Danielle Sales and Janelle Marie Corley. Tax Time Solutions, LLC was owned by Sales.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place on February 22, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, before United States District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder. At sentencing, Caldwell faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a period of supervised release of up to one year, and monetary penalties.

Sales and Corley previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with a scheme to file false tax returns that resulted in an intended tax loss of over $1.5 million. On July 29, 2022, Senior United States District Court Judge N. Carlton Tilley, Jr. sentenced Sales to 30 months of imprisonment. On August 5, 2022, Judge Tilley sentenced Corley to 24 months of imprisonment. In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Sales and Corley were also sentenced to a period of supervised release and restitution.

Agents with the Criminal Investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Waid.