Inquiry into Jackson Hewitt's Tax Return Practices Widens

According to The Times, the Justice Department filed civil lawsuits in April accusing more than 125 Jackson Hewitt offices of knowingly enabling tens of thousands of middle- and lower-income people to obtain $70 million by falsifying their federal tax returns.

Late last week, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. disclosed in a securities filing that the company itself was the subject of an Internal Revenue Service investigation. Jackson Hewitt said in the filing that it was cooperating fully with the inquiry, reported The Times.

According to the paper, the Justice Department lawsuits raised questions over Jackson Hewitt's supervision and oversight of its franchisees, in this case of a businessman named Farrukh Sohail, who has outlets in Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and Birmingham, Ala. The lawsuits did not name Jackson Hewitt as a defendant.- New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants