Silver Spring Tax Preparer Sentenced to Prison

A Silver Spring man is going to prison after underreporting the income from his tax preparation business on his tax returns, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland announced Wednesday.

Alejandro A. Salas, 65, was sentenced Wednesday in Greenbelt to 18 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for making a false statement on a tax return. U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus also ordered Salas to pay $393,018 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service.

“Today’s sentencing of Mr. Salas should be a warning to others that IRS Criminal Investigation is focused on those that intentionally underreport taxable income, no matter what entity or individual they attempt to hide behind,” Thomas J. Kelly, the special agent in charge in the IRS criminal investigation, said in a statement.

According to his plea agreement, from 2004 to 2008, Salas ran G&S Enterprises of Maryland, a tax return preparation business in Silver Spring. In 2009, after learning that he was the target of a criminal investigation, Salas moved the location of his business and began preparing tax returns for clients under the corporate name TAX USA, which he incorporated under someone else's name. Between 2004 and 2009, Salas’ business prepared over 15,700 tax returns for clients.

Salas admitted that for tax years 2003 through 2005, he underreported the income from his tax preparation business on his individual income tax returns. He also underreported income from the business on the corporate tax return he filed for 2006. For tax years 2007 through 2009, Salas did not file either corporate or individual tax returns, the plea agreement said.