Moving aggressively to protect Maryland taxpayers, Comptroller Peter Franchot today announced that his office has immediately suspended processing electronic tax returns from 20 paid tax preparers due to a high volume of questionable returns received.
“Protecting Maryland taxpayers and detecting fraudulent returns are our top priorities,” said Comptroller Franchot. “We are resolute in our efforts to ensure that the tax refunds we send out are legitimate and go to the people who have earned them. I want to thank my Questionable Return Detection Team who works tirelessly to root out the returns that try to cheat our state and steal from all Marylanders.”
The businesses, which have been sent written notice of the action, were identified by the Comptroller’s nationally recognized fraud unit using state-of-the-art technology that allows the Comptroller’s Office to detect fraud while processing returns. These 20 preparers join the 68 businesses blocked last year. Although, the agency’s review process provides an opportunity for the blocked preparers to restore their filing privileges, to date, none of the previously suspended tax preparers has had these privileges restored.
Comptroller Franchot, pursuant to the recently signed IRS Security Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), has shared this information with other tax agencies. The Comptroller’s Office also has advised the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation of the decision, so that they can take any additional appropriate actions.
“Guarding against tax fraud schemes and fraudulent returns are the biggest challenges facing tax administrators across the country,” added Comptroller Franchot. “My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure the safety and accuracy of Maryland’s tax filing systems.”
The tax preparers blocked from filing returns by today’s actions are:
- Vasquez Tax Services, 2340 University Ave., Hyattsville, MD 20783
- OSE Tax Services, 5006 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214
- ALR Tax and Financial Services LLC, 76 Ritchie Road, Capitol Heights, MD 20743
- OFAB LLC, 3938 Minnesota Ave., Washington, DC 20019
- Monique’s Taxprep Services LLC, 4342 Tucker Circle, Halethorpe, MD 21227
- Express Tax Inc., 5501 York, Road, Baltimore, MD 21212
- KLS Tax Services, 18431 Shanna Drive, Accokeek, MD 20607
- Liberty Tax Service, 5436 Marlboro Pike, District Heights, MD 20747
- Quick Tax Service, 1809 1/2 Pennsylvania Ave., Baltimore, MD 21217
- PROTAXEM, 3104 N. Greenmount SVE, Baltimore, MD 21218
- HRQT LLC, 2136 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21218
- Quick Tax, 2401 Liberty Heights Road, Baltimore, MD 21215
- Quick Money Tax Service, 6628 Harford Road, 2nd floor Baltimore, MD 21214
- JAE Establishments LLC, 3803 Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill, PA 17011
- One Vision First (OVF) Consulting LLC, 8120 Fenton St., Suite 301b, Silver Spring, MD
- Tax Maid, 2558 Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21223
- Eltonia Tax & Contract Service LLC, 8058 Philadelphia Road, Baltimore, MD 21237
- Tax Plus, 727 Northrop Lane, Middle River, MD 21220
- Quality Tax Service, 6 Woodstream Court, Owings Mills, MD 21117
- Patricia’s Bookkeeping and Accounting, 227 Mysticwood Road, Reisterstown, MD 21136
A complete list of all tax preparers blocked from filing returns is available at www.marylandtaxes.com. Taxpayers should carefully review their returns for these issues and should be suspicious if a preparer:
- Deducts fees from the taxpayer’s refund to be deposited into the tax preparer’s account,
- Does not sign the tax return, or,
- Fails to include the Preparer Taxpayer Identification number “P-TIN” on the return.
If taxpayers suspect fraud, they are asked to immediately report the issue to the Comptroller’s Office by calling 1-800-MD-TAXES (1-800-638-2937) or 410-260-7980 in Central Maryland or by emailing [email protected].
