Kansas City tax preparer sentenced for filing false tax returns

Date: May 14, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

Kansas City, MO - A Kansas City, MO, woman was sentenced in federal court for filing false tax returns for others.

Tanisha Spencer was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Wimes to 18 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Spencer to pay restitution of $730,709.00 to the Internal Revenue Service. This successful prosecution is one of many federal fraud cases pursued under the leadership of President Donald Trump and through the establishment of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

On Dec. 3, 2025, Spencer pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the preparation and filing of false tax returns.

According to court documents, Spencer prepared income tax returns for pay for people who contacted her via Facebook. She prepared the income tax returns in Kansas City, MO, and the returns were electronically filed with the Internal Revenue Service in Kansas City, MO. The Federal income tax returns prepared by Spencer included fraudulent sick leave and family leave credits, illegitimate fuel tax credits, and fraudulently inflated federal tax withholdings. By including these and other fraudulent items on the client's tax returns, Spencer was able to manufacture substantial refunds to her clients that they would not have been entitled to if the returns had been accurately prepared.

Spencer charged her clients a return preparation fee of between $500 and $14,840 per return. The 156 returns that Spencer prepared claimed $4,047,531 in refunds, of which the IRS paid $689,872.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

National Fraud Enforcement Division

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division ("Fraud Division"). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within federal benefit programs.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.