9Wants to Know has uncovered a pattern of problems that led the IRS to claw back refunds from several customers of a Lakewood tax preparation company.
Former customers AAAE Financial said they were referred by friends or relatives who raved it was cheaper than Turbo Tax and resulted in big refunds. Those taxpayers said they trusted the owner, Hieu Mattison, and ended up with diminishing returns. 
“It’s just frustrating,” Heather Freeman said. The IRS is now garnishing her paychecks.
Meanwhile, Sabrina Brown is facing an IRS audit. She must explain her living situation and show proof her own daughter belongs to her.
“That makes me upset,” Brown said.
Both women got their taxes done by Hieu Mattison at AAAE Financial in Lakewood. Mattison estimates he files 10,000 tax returns a year, charging $50 for each.
“If I was running a scheme here, I would charge you 300 dollars,” Mattison said. “We want to be legit on everything.”
9Wants to Know how Mattison explains glaring problems on some clients’ IRS 1040 forms, including filing married couples living together as each Head of Household. He admits he knows what the rule is.
“If they are married, they can’t,” Mattison said.
But 9Wants to Know obtained copies of two customers’ tax forms where he did just that.
“If they didn’t feel comfortable when they told me, then they shouldn’t have done it,” he said.
Despite the BBB sticker on the door, this company has an F rating, because of many complaints.
Sabrina Brown says Mattison added nearly 600 dollars in education tax credits on her forms, but neither she nor her husband was attending school.
“I know these guys, okay?” Mattison said. “They did not get as much refund as they should have. She made too much money.”
“He lied.” Brown said. “He lied on my taxes.”
Lying on IRS forms is a federal crime. Anyone caught aiding, assisting, or advising people in preparing a false tax return could spend three years in prison.
When 9Wants to Know asked Mattison if he ever filed a tax return knowing the information was false, he replied “Yes and no.” He later explained, “When we started this business we grew so fast. A lot of mistake were made.”
Heather Freeman says she went to Mattison to complete her 2012 tax forms, but she says she had second thoughts after a conversation in the AAAE Financial office.
“He’s like, ‘you owe a lot of money back to the federal government. Is there anything else you are leaving out? Hobbies anything.'” she explained. “We were thinking it was innocent, so we’re like ‘I paint’, so he started adding all this for art supplies and travel.”
Freeman filed a complaint with the IRS saying she told Mattison not to file her return, but he did anyway. Mattison admitted he will file businesses deductions without requiring receipts or similar written documentation.
“Most of them don’t bring receipts,” he said.
Mattison says IRS agents took his bank records showing where he direct deposited some customers’ tax refunds. He also admits the IRS blocked his electronic filing number about a year ago.
However, this year, he says he’s filing taxes under a different company name. He says he’s using Total Images Financial Services, a business registered with the Colorado Secretary of State under one of his employee’s names.
When asked if the IRS was aware he was still running the same operation under a different name, Mattison said, “I don’t know if they know or not.”
The IRS would not comment specifically about Hieu Mattison or AAAE Financial. The IRS did give 9Wants to Know information about several other Colorado tax preparer fraud cases currently being prosecuted. The records show how it takes years to build a tax preparer fraud case.
The IRS says most paid tax return preparers are professional and honest. However there are some warning signs of an unscrupulous tax preparer, such as:
· Failing to sign tax returns they prepare
· Failing to use a Preparer Tax Identification Number or using an invalid PTIN
· Failing to provide clients a copy of their tax return
· Failing to return a client’s records
· Creating false exemptions or dependents
· Creating false expenses, deductions or credits
· Creating or omitting income
· Using an incorrect filing status
· Embezzling a client’s refund
If you want to file a complaint with the IRS alleging tax preparer misconduct or fraud, you can use IRS Form 14157.
The Better Business Bureau also mediates disputes between customers and tax preparer services.
If you are a customer of Hieu Mattison, AAAE financial or Total Images Financial Services, 9Wants to Know investigative reporter Melissa Blasius wants to hear from you. Email her at melissa.blasius@9news.com or call 303-871-1843.
