The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) announces recent disciplinary sanctions involving attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, enrolled retirement plan agents, and appraisers. These individuals are subject to the regulations governing practice before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which are set out in Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 10, and which are published in pamphlet form as Treasury Department Circular No. 230. The regulations prescribe the duties and restrictions relating to such practice and prescribe the disciplinary sanctions for violating the regulations.
The disciplinary sanctions to be imposed for violation of the regulations are:
Disbarred from practice before the IRS—An individual who is disbarred is not eligible to practice before the IRS as defined at 31 C.F.R. § 10.2(a)(4).
Suspended from practice before the IRS—An individual who is suspended is not eligible to practice before the IRS as defined at 31 C.F.R. § 10.2(a)(4) during the term of the suspension.
Censured in practice before the IRS—Censure is a public reprimand. Unlike disbarment or suspension, censure does not affect an individual’s eligibility to practice before the IRS, but OPR may subject the individual’s future practice rights to conditions designed to promote high standards of conduct.
Monetary penalty—A monetary penalty may be imposed on an individual who engages in conduct subject to sanction or on an employer, firm, or entity if the individual was acting on its behalf and if it knew, or reasonably should have known, of the individual’s conduct.
Disqualification of appraiser—An appraiser who is disqualified is barred from presenting evidence or testimony in any administrative proceeding before the Department of the Treasury or the IRS.
Under the regulations, attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, enrolled actuaries, and enrolled retirement plan agents may not assist, or accept assistance from, individuals who are suspended or disbarred with respect to matters constituting practice (i.e., representation) before the IRS, and they may not aid or abet suspended or disbarred individuals to practice before the IRS.
Disciplinary sanctions are described in these terms:
Disbarred by decision, Suspended by decision, Censured by decision, Monetary penalty imposed, and Disqualified after hearing—An administrative law judge (ALJ) either 1) granted the government’s summary judgment motion or 2) conducted an evidentiary hearing upon OPR’s complaint alleging violation of the regulations; and 3) issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions. After 30 days from the issuance of the decision, in the absence of an appeal, the ALJ’s decision became the final agency decision.
Disbarred by default decision, Suspended by default decision, Censured by default decision, Monetary penalty imposed by default decision, and Disqualified by default decision—An ALJ, after finding that no answer to OPR’s complaint had been filed, granted OPR’s motion for a default judgment and issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions.
Disbarment by decision on appeal, Suspended by decision on appeal, Censured by decision on appeal, Monetary penalty imposed by decision on appeal, and Disqualified by decision on appeal—The decision of the ALJ was appealed to the agency appeal authority, acting as the delegate of the Secretary of the Treasury, and the appeal authority issued a decision imposing one of these sanctions.
Disbarred by consent, Suspended by consent, Censured by consent, Monetary penalty imposed by consent, and Disqualified by consent—In lieu of a disciplinary proceeding being instituted or continued, an individual offered a consent to one of these sanctions and OPR accepted the offer. Typically, an offer of consent will provide for: suspension for an indefinite term; conditions that the individual must observe during the suspension; and the individual’s opportunity, after a stated number of months, to file with OPR a petition for reinstatement affirming compliance with the terms of the consent and affirming current eligibility to practice (i.e., an active professional license or active enrollment status).
Suspended indefinitely by decision in expedited proceeding, Suspended indefinitely by default decision in expedited proceeding, Suspended by consent in expedited proceeding—OPR instituted an expedited proceeding for suspension (based on certain limited grounds, including loss of a professional license for cause, and criminal convictions).
OPR has authority to disclose the grounds for disciplinary sanctions in these situations: (1) an ALJ or the Secretary’s delegate on appeal has issued a decision on or after September 26, 2007, which was the effective date of amendments to the regulations that permit making such decisions publicly available; (2) the individual has settled a disciplinary case by signing OPR’s “consent to sanction” form, which requires consenting individuals to admit to one or more violations of the regulations and to consent to the disclosure of the individual’s own return information related to the admitted violations (for example, failure to file Federal income tax returns); or (3) OPR has issued a decision in an expedited proceeding for indefinite suspension.
Announcements of disciplinary sanctions appear in the Internal Revenue Bulletin at the earliest practicable date. The sanctions announced below are alphabetized first by the names of states and second by the last names of individuals. Unless otherwise indicated, section numbers (e.g., § 10.51) refer to the regulations.
| City & State | Name | Professional Designation | Disciplinary Sanction | Effective Date(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | ||||
| Scottsdale | Limb, Joseph S. | Appraiser | Disqualified by consent for violations under 31 C.F.R. § 10.22(a)(1–3) (2007) (failed to exercise due diligence in preparation of documents, failed to exercise due diligence in determining the correctness of written representation made to the Department of Treasury, and failed to exercise due diligence in determining the correctness of written representations made to clients with reference to matters administered by the IRS). | Indefinite from March 31, 2014 |
| California | ||||
| Chula Vista | Thomsen, Neil A. | Enrolled Agent | Suspended by decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (conviction under 18 U.S.C § 1341, mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 287, false, fictitious and fraudulent claims, 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(8), fraudulent use of a social security number of another person, 18 U.S.C. § 1028(A), aggravated identity theft, and 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a), fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents) | Indefinite from May 8, 2014 |
| San Diego | Turner, Michael I. | Unenrolled Return Preparer | Disbarment by consent pursuant to order of permanent injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California acting as a federal tax return preparer or requesting, assisting in, or directing the preparation or filing of federal tax returns or amended returns (or other related tax forms or document) for any person or entity other than preparing his own personal tax return(s) | Disbarment for a minimum of 5 years from April 29, 2014 |
| California (Continued) | ||||
| Rohnert Park | Yee, Elbert D. | Enrolled Agent | Disbarment by ALJ default decision for violation of § 10.51 (failure to file timely Federal tax returns for 2007–2011, and failure to respond to OPR’s request for information) | Disbarment for a minimum of 5 years from March 30, 2014 |
| District of Columbia | ||||
| Roberson, Jr., James O. | Attorney | Reinstated to practice before the IRS, April 22, 2014 | ||
| Illinois | ||||
| Carbondale | Manis, Ronald E. | CPA | Suspended by decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (conviction under 26 U.S.C § 7203, failure to timely file a Federal income tax return) | Indefinite from April 7, 2014 |
| Louisiana | ||||
| Gretna | Fradella, Frank T. | Attorney | Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (suspension of attorney license) | Indefinite from May 5, 2014 |
| Mandeville | Tulli, Anthony | CPA | Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (conviction under 18 U.S.C § 1341, mail fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343 & 18 U.S.C. § 2, wire fraud; aiding and abetting, 26 U.S.C. § 7202, willful failure to collect and pay over a tax, and, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, making false statements to the IRS; and revocation of CPA License) | Indefinite from January 6, 2014 |
| Massachusetts | ||||
| Chatham | Edgar, Charles M. | Attorney/CPA | Disbarred by decision of IRS Appellate Authority (revocation of CPA license and on two different occasions in May 2011 submitted false power of attorney (Form 2848) (31 C.F.R §§ 10.51(a)(10), and 10.51(a)(4))) | Disbarment for a minimum of 5 years from April 18, 2014 |
| North Carolina | ||||
| Moyock | Drake, Donald | CPA | Suspended by decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (suspension of CPA license) | Indefinite from May 8, 2014 |
| Pennsylvania | ||||
| Scranton | Muracco, Dominick J. | Enrolled Agent | Suspended by default decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (conviction under 26 U.S.C § 7201, tax evasion) | Indefinite from May 5, 2014 |
| Texas | ||||
| San Augustine | Dawson, Robin G. | CPA | Suspended by decision in expedited proceeding under 31 C.F.R. § 10.82 (revocation of CPA license) | Indefinite from April 16, 2014 |
The Internal Revenue Bulletin is produced and published by the Internal Revenue Service and contains IRS pronouncements affecting tax analysis under the Code and the Regulations, including but not limited to Revenue Procedures, Revenue Rulings, Notices and Announcements. Access the IRS site at https://www.irs.gov/help/irsgov-accessibility for information concerning accessibility of IRS materials. While every effort has been made to ensure that the IRB database files available through the TouchTax application are accurate, those using TouchTax for legal research should verify their results against the printed versions of the IRBs available from the IRS.