Area Tax Prep Specialist Pleads in $1 Million False Returns Case

BRISTOL, CT — A central Connecticut tax preparation specialist has entered a plea in a $1 million tax return case, a leading prosecutor and an Internal Revenue Service official said on Thursday.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Joel P. Garland, special agent in charge of IRS criminal investigation in New England, announced that Robin Reid, 54, of Bristol, waived her right to be indicted and entered a guilty plea before Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to preparing false federal income tax returns.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Reid operated a tax return preparation practice. From at least 2005 and continuing until 2015, Reid falsified information on numerous returns that she prepared for clients by inflating deductions for medical and dental expenses, charitable contributions, employee-related expenses, and other expenses, according to court records.

Reid often created fictitious Schedule C forms in order to fabricate deductible business expenses, and fictitious Schedule E forms to inflate expenses relating to rental properties, Daly and Garland said.

By routinely overstating deductions, Reid reduced taxable income on the respective returns, and caused a tax loss of $1,126,011 to the government, Daly and Garland said.

Reid entered a guilty plea to one count of aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of three years, a fine of up to approximately $2.2 million, and restitution, Daly and Garland said.

Chief Judge Hall scheduled sentencing for Dec. 21.

Garland said Reid’s clients are required to resolve their own tax liability with the Internal Revenue Service.

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