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Federal law imposes a fuel tax on gasoline and diesel fuel sold in the United States.
The tax is included in the purchase price at the pump. Businesses can claim a fuel
tax credit in certain rare circumstances, but most businesses and consumers who use
cars or trucks on roads and highways are not eligible for the credit. According to the
government’s complaint, McFarland claimed the fuel credit on her customers’
returns so they could claim tax refunds to which they were not entitled.
The government complaint alleges that McFarland has prepared at least 970 returns
since 2003 and the IRS has identified over $1.5 million dollars in fraudulent fuel tax
credits on McFarland-prepared returns. “People who have their returns prepared by
others should review them carefully to make sure they are truthful,” said Eileen J.
O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
“The preparer who seems to be saving you taxes now is setting you up for trouble
later, when the IRS realizes that you filed a false return and obtained a larger
refund, or paid less in taxes, than you should have.”
Since 2001, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained more than 215
injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of
fraudulent returns. Information about these cases is available on the Justice
Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2006.htm. More
information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at
http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.
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