A Riverside County man has been sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for preparing and filing false tax returns for his clients, resulting in a tax loss to the IRS of at least $28 million, as announced by the Justice Department today. Salvador Gonzalez, residing in Corona, was sentenced on Monday by United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal, who also mandated restitution payments totaling $403,908.

Gonzalez entered a guilty plea on June 17 to three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns. Beginning in 2013, Gonzalez operated Grace’s Lighthouse Resource Center, Inc., a tax return-preparation business based in Corona. Throughout this period, Gonzalez consistently advised his clients to create fictitious corporations and to title their homes, vehicles, and other assets under the names of these corporations. He then referred these clients to an associate responsible for preparing the tax returns of these sham corporations. The associate would provide the clients with a blank spreadsheet, requesting that they input their business expenses.

Under Gonzalez’s instructions, clients included personal expenses such as mortgage payments, car payments, and utility bills in the spreadsheet provided to the associate. Consequently, the associate used this information to prepare business tax returns that inevitably displayed a loss. These fabricated losses were incorporated into the clients’ individual income tax returns, fraudulently reducing their taxable income.

Gonzalez further reduced his clients’ tax liabilities by fabricating deductions on their personal returns, including unreimbursed employee expenses, charitable contributions, and medical and dental expenses. As a result of these fraudulent practices, his clients paid less in taxes than they rightfully owed.

Before 2019, Gonzalez typically charged clients a flat fee of $500 per tax return. In 2019, he adjusted his fee structure to charge clients 1% of their gross income for his services. According to court documents, Gonzalez’s actions resulted in a tax loss to the IRS amounting to at least $28 million.

Consistent with the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office – Tax Section filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Gonzalez. The complaint seeks to permanently prohibit Gonzalez from preparing, assisting in, directing, or supervising the preparation or filing of federal tax returns, amended tax returns, or other related documents or forms for others. The civil complaint alleges that over several years, Gonzalez prepared tax returns that understated the federal income-tax liability of his customers through a scheme that harmed the United States, the IRS, his customers, and the public.