Wichita woman barred from preparing federal tax returns

A federal judge on Thursday permanently barred a Wichita woman from preparing federal tax returns for others.

The government sought to shut down Ma Guadalupe Valenzuela and her business, Servicio de Income Tax earlier this year after she allegedly prepared fraudulent returns for customers that lowered their tax liabilities and increased their refunds. The fraud included claiming bogus child tax credits, dependency exemptions and filing statuses.

On Thursday, Valenzuela — also known as Maria Guadalupe Valenzuela and Lupe Valenzuela — agreed to a civil injunction that bans her from working as a federal tax preparer, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

She also can't help or direct others in preparing their tax returns, court records say.

This story was originally published May 11, 2018 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Wichita woman barred from preparing federal tax returns."