ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County tax preparer on Thursday admitted falsifying 42 federal income tax returns for clients.

Elisa Y. Brown, 60, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. She admitted preparing false tax returns from 2016-2020.

Brown prepared the returns with commercial tax preparation software from her home in exchange for between $150 and $250 per return.

She did not have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN), which is issued by the IRS and required on returns prepared for compensation. Brown digitally signed each tax return in the name of the taxpayer, making it appear to the IRS that the taxpayer had prepared the return. Brown claimed false medical and dental expenses and cash donations as deductibles and included false schedule C forms reflecting tens of thousands of dollars of false business expenses.

Brown admitted filing false tax returns for 11 clients from 2016-2020, resulting in a tax loss to the IRS of $171,866. During the same time, she prepared and submitted a total of 560 tax returns, many of which contained similar false deductible expenses.

Brown is scheduled to be sentenced July 22. Each charge carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

The case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.