A Portland, Ore.-based tax preparer, who falsely applied for benefits designed for the poor, has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for tax return fraud. The preparers, Elizabeth Munoz, 38, was also ordered this week to pay $1.8 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $82,400 to the Oregon Department of Human Services.From 2015 to 2018, Munoz operated a tax preparation business from her home in Southeast Portland. She prepared more than 1,300 bogus returns for more than 600 clients, causing a tax loss of about $1.8 million.
Despite charging as much as $150 per return, she reported no business income on her returns from 2014 through 2017. Munoz also submitted six years’ worth of applications to obtain more than $82,000 in public benefits designed to support the poor and indigent that she was not entitled to.
On Dec. 15, 2020, Munoz pleaded guilty to 13 counts of preparing and filing false income tax returns for clients and four counts of filing false income tax returns for herself.
