The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced that a convicted tax preparer who “thumbed his nose at the court” was sentenced to a minimum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.   

The defendant is Joseph Barrios, Jr., 50, a Mahwah, NJ resident who operated JB Tax, Inc. at 371 E 138^th St. in the Bronx.  The business has also operated under the names Barrios Agency Inc., BA Services Inc., JB Tax Services Inc., and All Option Services Corporation.  

Barrios appeared before Justice Martin Marcus in Bronx Supreme Court on July 3 to face the consequences of two new felony charges related to filing fake tax returns.

Barrios had been charged in January of this year with filing false returns on behalf of his clients and he pled guilty to those charges.  The Tax Department subsequently revoked his registration as a preparer. 

However, while waiting to be sentenced to an expected six months at Riker’s Island he continued to violate the law by filing returns without being registered.  In addition, some of the subsequent returns were again fraudulent, leading to his second arrest and today’s stiffer sentence.

“He thumbed his nose at the Court and the District Attorney’s office,” Risa Sugarman, who leads the New York State Tax Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, said in a statement to Justice Marcus.  “He continued to commit fraud and violated the Court’s – and his clients’ – trust.”  (Read Ms. Sugarman’s prepared statement.)

On his second arrest in March, Barrios was charged with two separate counts of the same crime, Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony that carries a maximum sentence of 1 1/3 to 4 years of imprisonment on each count.  If Barrios meets the terms of his plea agreement, he would serve only one sentence, not both consecutively.

Those terms state that he must pay fines and penalties to the State of $20,000; this, in addition to the same amount he paid when convicted the first time.  He also agreed to refrain from completing or filing any tax returns until he successfully completes and is discharged from parole following his prison sentence.  This includes Federal as well as State tax returns.

The Tax Department audited more than 5,000 returns filed by Barrios from 2009 to 2013, and stopped or recovered more than $6 million in fraudulent refunds claimed on those returns.

“An overwhelming number of tax preparers in New York are professionals and serve their clients well,” Sugarman said.  “But then there are people such as Joseph Barrios, who broke the law in an aggressive, premeditated manner.”

Report tax evasion or fraud
If you suspect that a tax preparer is engaging in unethical or illegal practices, you can report it to the Department by calling 518-457-0578.

Related information
Governor Cuomo Announces New Regulations to Protect Consumers Who Hire Tax Preparers