ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis tax preparer pleaded guilty on Monday to filing at least 41 fraudulent tax returns over the course of five years.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Missouri, Shasherese M. Reed, 53, prepared the fraudulent returns through her daughter’s tax preparation business, Majac Money.
Reed initially had her own tax preparation business prior to using her daughter’s, but in 2015 the IRS revoked her Preparer Tax Identification number assigned to the business, Sha-Sha Taxes.
Allegedly, Reed falsely identified her daughter on tax returns as the paid preparer that Reed actually prepared at Majac Money.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Reed frequently included a false Schedule C, which reported tens of thousands of dollars in business expenses when a taxpayer either had much smaller business expenses or did not own a business at all.
Reed allegedly claimed false and fraudulent deductions for things like state and local taxes, medical and dental expenses, and mortgage interest.
Reed additionally admitted to preparing a fraudulent tax return for an undercover agent with the IRS Criminal Investigation who posed as a potential client of Majac Money.
Reed never asked whether the agent had a business, and she prepared a return that included a false Schedule C showing $26,242 in business expenses, according to her plea agreement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Reed charged hundreds of dollars in fees for preparing returns and made $378,026 in fees from 2017 to 2021 tax years. According to her plea agreement, she prepared at least 41 false tax returns for 13 different taxpayers, which cost the IRS at least $312,192.
Reed pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 6.