The United States filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Missouri seeking to bar a St. Louis-based tax preparer from assisting in preparing federal income tax returns for others.
The government’s complaint alleges that, since at least 2017, Diane Shontae Williams, both individually and through her business, Dreams & Memories Professional Planning Services, prepared tax returns for customers that falsely decrease the amount of tax that customers owe or falsely increase her customers’ refunds. According to the complaint, Williams concocted fictitious businesses; falsified expenses to reduce both real and fictitious self‑employment income; claimed bogus residential energy credits; fabricated household employee income to claim higher tax credits for customers; and invented false itemized deductions, including unreimbursed business expenses and charitable donations.
The complaint further alleges that Williams does not identify herself as a paid preparer on her customers’ returns, which adds to the government’s difficulty in identifying and detecting her illicit tax preparation activities. The IRS specifically cautions taxpayers to avoid “ghost” preparers, who will prepare a tax return but refuse to sign or include their IRS Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) as required by law.
