We Are Taxes (We Are Taxes Inc.)
Outcome
Byron Taylor, owner of We Are Taxes in Dolton, Illinois, pleaded guilty to preparing at least 54 false tax returns for clients from 2015–2020 with fabricated deductions, filing false returns for himself underreporting We Are Taxes income, and submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications — causing $914,745 in IRS losses, with Taylor using PPP funds for personal gambling expenses.
Details
We Are Taxes Inc. / Byron Taylor — $914,745 Tax Fraud and PPP Loan Abuse, Dolton, Illinois (2022)
Outcome: Byron Taylor of Homewood, Illinois, owner of We Are Taxes (a Dolton, Illinois tax preparation business that advertised "Everyone Gets a Check!"), pleaded guilty to preparing and filing at least 54 false tax returns for clients from 2015 through 2020, simultaneously filing false personal returns underreporting his own business income, and fraudulently obtaining PPP pandemic relief loans he spent partly on gambling — causing $914,745 in total IRS losses.
We Are Taxes operated as a community tax preparation service in Dolton, Illinois, with Byron Taylor as owner, preparing returns for individual clients who sought larger refunds. Taylor marketed the business on the promise that "Everyone Gets a Check!" — a tagline that both reflected and enabled his fraud scheme. From 2015 through 2020, Taylor prepared and filed at least 54 false federal tax returns for clients that contained fabricated deductions: invented medical and dental expenses, false gifts-to-charity deductions, fictitious state and local real estate taxes, and nonexistent unreimbursed employee expenses. Taylor also included false business losses on client returns. The effect was to generate refunds that clients were not legitimately entitled to receive.
In parallel, Taylor filed false personal federal tax returns for himself for tax years 2017 through 2021, substantially underreporting the income he received from We Are Taxes — or in some years failing to report the business income at all. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor compounded his fraud by submitting multiple false Paycheck Protection Program loan applications for several businesses he claimed to own and operate. Four applications were approved. After receiving the PPP funds, Taylor used portions for personal expenditures including gambling expenses — a misuse of pandemic emergency business relief funds.
Primary Source: DOJ Press Release — Chicago-Area Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Tax Offenses
How Crucible Prevents This
Crucible's instinct-observer hook would detect the pattern of false deduction entries (medical, charitable, unreimbursed employee, real estate) appearing simultaneously across client returns within the same preparer portfolio. The pre-tool-check hook would require documented source verification for all PPP loan application data before submission. The quality-gate would flag the combination of client return fraud and self-return income underreporting — a dual fraud signature indicating systemic preparer misconduct.
Don't let this happen to your organization. See how Crucible works.
See How Crucible Works