Semere Tsehaye, who owned at last 20 Instant Tax Service stores in three states, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison. Tsehaye, age 39, was convicted on two counts of tax evasion in October for understating income from two tax businesses that operated his ITS locations.

Tax season slumped in its initial period as the total number returns filed for the week ended February 3 plunged by 24.3 percent compared to the week ended February 5 a year ago. Numbers dropped for self-prepared returns by 20.8 percent received but were down 29.2 percent for those filed by tax professionals.

Intuit has launched a marketing campaign for the Latino community. Under the Spanish title, "Relájate, Tienes TurboTax," (Relax, There's TurboTax) has Spanish language television spots featuring actress Karla Souza and retired baseball player David Ortiz to demonstrate the features and capabilities of the company's tax preparation software.