Justice Department Announces Indictment and Six Lawsuits Targeting False Claims for First-time Homebuyer and Earned-income Tax Credits

WASHINGTON, DC – February 9, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The United States has filed six lawsuits in five states to stop tax return preparers from fraudulently claiming the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the earned-income tax credit, the Justice Department announced today. The filings of those civil injunction complaints coincided with the indictment of a Philadelphia man on criminal charges of fraudulently claiming the first-time homebuyer credit. All of these actions are part of the Justice Department’s continuing efforts to halt tax scams involving false claims for tax credits and to prosecute those who fraudulently file tax returns containing those claims.