Date: August 24, 2023 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A Purvis man was sentenced to 34 months in federal prison for assisting in the preparation of a materially false tax return, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Atlanta Field Office. Terance Dewune Price was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg. In addition to his term of imprisonment, Price was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and $58,582 in restitution to the IRS. According to court documents, Price was identified in an investigation by the IRS-CI as a tax preparer who assisted in the preparation and presentation to the IRS of a false Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for an individual, A. E., for the calendar year 2017. The investigation revealed that the return was false and fraudulent as to a material matter in that the information provided on line 53, a “Residential Energy Credit”, and information on line 64, for “Federal Income Tax Withheld from Form 1099,” was false, and the defendant knew it was false. “Providing clients assistance in complying with current tax laws when submitting federal returns is a responsibility Terance Price unlawfully failed to do,” said Demetrius Hardeman, acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “Dishonest tax preparers who use their knowledge of the tax system to work around it should look at Price’s sentencing as a warning that IRS Criminal Investigation and our law enforcement partners will hold them accountable for cheating the government.” Price pled guilty on April 17, 2023 to assisting in the preparation of a materially false tax return. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones prosecuted the case.
