In a Final Agency Decision the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) declined to carve out a request by Christensen for limited practice as a tax return preparer, and instead, disbarred him from all practice before the IRS finding that Christensen’s conviction for theft, and the revocation of his CPA licenses, constituted disreputable conduct under Circular 230. Christensen had argued that he should be permitted to continue to prepare tax returns because his theft conviction resulted from a family matter that had nothing to do with his tax return preparation practice before the IRS.
"OPR strives to protect the integrity of the tax system from unscrupulous and incompetent practitioners regardless of how those traits become known,” said Karen L. Hawkins, Director of OPR.
Agreeing with OPR’s proposed sanction, the ALJ held the seriousness of Christensen’s offense warranted disbarment from practicing before the IRS finding that the “Respondent has displayed a lack of integrity, including in his testimony at trial, in attempting to distinguish his professional actions from his ‘father-daughter’ relationship.”
Christensen is prohibited from any practice (including tax return preparation) before the IRS for a five year period.
North Sound South Sound
2802 Wetmore Ave, Suite 212 33530 1st Way S, Suite 102
Everett, WA 98201 Federal Way, WA 98003
425.339.2400 253.237.0751
fax 425.259.1099 fax 253.237.0701
No comments:
Post a Comment