Father and Son Tax Preparers Indicted on 24 Counts in Defrauding the IRS

WASHINGTON - Vincent Larry Phillips, Sr., 60, and Vincent Michael Phillips, Jr., 36, a father and son who operated a tax return preparation business in the District of Columbia, were charged in an 24-count indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in connection with an alleged yearslong scheme that defrauded the Internal Revenue Service, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

The indictment charges one count of conspiracy, 14 counts of aiding in the preparation of false returns, four counts of false statements, and four counts of aggravated identity theft.

Phillips Sr. surrendered today to federal authorities. Phillips Jr. was arrested this morning in the District.

Since 1995, Vincent Larry Phillips Sr. has owned and operated Tax Express LLC on the 1300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE. Phillips Jr. occasionally worked for his father's business, which was alternatively named Nubian Tax Service, Nubian Tax Express, Nubian Tax Express 1, Express Tax, and Express Tax.

"Phillips Sr. has done this before, he pleaded guilty to a similar offense in 2010," said U.S. Attorney Pirro. "Rest assured after this he will not do it again. My office and President Trump are intent on cutting fraud, waste, and abuse and will prosecute those offenses wherever we find it."

According to the indictment, father and son each prepared false and fraudulent tax returns that in various ways either improperly inflated the client's claimed refund or resulted in the client claiming a refund when they should have owed taxes. The Phillips allegedly often did this without the knowledge of their clients and allegedly would skim part of the refund for their personal use.

In March 2022, IRS Special Agents conducted an undercover operation at Tax Express. Father and son allegedly prepared separate false returns for the undercover agents. Each preparer allegedly claimed expenses for a fictional "geothermal heat pump" that reduced the tax burden. The agents had not reported the purchase of a heat pump. A correctly prepared return would have showed that the undercover agents were either getting a small refund or owed a small tax. Instead, the documents that the Phillips submitted to the IRS claimed a more substantial refund. The Phillips did not tell the undercover agents that they had added heat pump expenses to their tax returns.

Among other allegations included in the indictment, the elder Phillips allegedly used the identity of a female associate to disguise the fact that the returns were prepared and electronically filed by a business he operated. The IRS had previously expelled Phillips from the IRS's e-file program and revoked his business's EFINs as a consequence of his criminal conviction in 2010 for tax crimes.

This case is being investigated by Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and the Department of Justice Criminal Division. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Ranney and Criminal Division Trial Attorney Emerson Gordon-Marvin.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.