Beware ghost tax preparers

Promising big refunds or not signing client tax returns are some of the most common red flags.

SACRAMENTO – It is a problem that continues to haunt taxpayers each year. Self proclaimed “professional” tax preparers who lure taxpayers in with low fees, often touting big and fast tax refunds, then disappear right after the tax filing deadline hits the stroke of midnight. “We call them ghost tax preparers. They never sign client tax returns so it makes it very difficult for enforcement teams to find them, which is, of course, their intention. Not signing is also against the law,” Lester Crawford, chair of the California Tax Education Council, a state-mandated nonprofit organization that manages the registration of 40,000 tax preparers, said. Here’s how ghost tax preparers work. They print out tax returns for clients, tell them to sign and mail it out. What many taxpayers
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