The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced that a Bronx-based tax preparer awaiting sentencing for filing false tax returns was re-arrested today on the same charge.
The individual also holds the notorious distinction to be the first tax preparer suspended from preparing tax returns under the Tax Department’s new tax preparer regulations.
Joseph Barrios, Jr., 50, is a Mahwah, NJ resident who owns JB Tax, Inc. at 371 E 138th Street in Bronx. The firm also has been known as BA Services, Barrios Agency, Inc. or All Option Service, Inc. at the same address. Barrios was charged today with two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony; two counts of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a class A misdemeanor; and one count of Attempted Tax Fraud, a class A misdemeanor.
On January 23rd of this year, Barrios pled guilty to Aiding and Assisting the Preparation of False Returns on behalf of his clients, a felony. His sentencing date at that time was set for April 3, though as part of his plea he agreed to a six month sentence at Riker’s Island.
The Tax Department audited more than 5,000 returns filed by Barrios from 2009 to 2013, and stopped or recovered more than $6 million in fraudulent refunds claimed on those returns.
Following his January conviction, the Tax Department, which oversees and regulates 40,000 tax preparers throughout the state, suspended Barrios’ Tax Preparation Registration, meaning he could no longer prepare or file tax returns in New York.
“He completely ignored his conviction and his suspension and continued to file fraudulent returns on behalf of clients, many of whom we believe were unaware of his deceptive practices and troubles with the law,” said Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox.
The Tax Department said Barrios filed fraudulent returns since his January conviction in an effort to secure both preparation fees and illegal refunds on behalf of his clients.
The Office of Bronx County District Attorney Robert Johnson and the Tax Department’s Criminal Investigations Division teamed on the re-arrest. Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Glucksman is prosecuting this case.
Report tax evasion or fraud:
If you suspect that a tax preparer is engaging in unethical or illegal practices, you can report it to the Department by calling 518–457–0578.
