IRS searches Instant Tax Service locations

Certified public accountant Kevin Leon Edmonds owns the Instant Tax Service franchise for the Springfield area, where he operates five tax preparation offices in Springfield, and one each in Ozark, Republic and Marshfield. The Instant Tax Service main office was in a shopping center at 1538 S. Glenstone Ave.

IRS Special Agent Bonnie MacLeod said agents encountered Edmonds at the 3020 S. National Ave. office and questioned him in connection with the investigation, although no arrests have been made or charges filed.

According to an affidavit, IRS agents believe Instant Tax Service was selling information about tax filers’ dependents and preying on mentally disabled and poor people by stating false income on official forms that resulted in fraudulent tax returns.

The Missouri attorney general’s office received several complaints about Instant Tax Service, according to the affidavit.

“Once I received my money, I was told to come back when I had my W-2s and they would then file my taxes,” one complainant wrote. “I just found out they have already filed my taxes without my W-2s and without my consent. The income they reported based off my last pay stub is incorrect.”

Of 1,880 tax returns prepared by Instant Tax Service for 2006, only 14 returns were filed with taxes owed, which equates to a 99.3 percent return rate, according to the affidavit. Instant Tax Service is based in Dayton, Ohio.

Read SBJ’s April 30 issue for more about the IRS investigation into Instant Tax Service.