Instant Refund Tax Service Data Breach (2013)

The government alleged that IRTS, which Franklin wholly owns, operated as a franchisee of Instant Tax Service, a large national tax-preparation franchisor operated by ITS Financial LLC, based in Dayton, Ohio. The government complaint in the case alleged that Franklin owned and operated 22 Instant Tax Service locations that prepared and filed false and fraudulent income tax returns for customers, fabricated income for phony businesses to obtain larger tax credits, forged W-2 forms, filed returns improperly based on paycheck stubs rather than W-2 forms, claimed false education tax credits and reported false filing statuses for customers. The government also accused Franklin’s offices of filing tax returns without customers’ authorization and selling false and deceptive loan products to customers.