Aniel Saint-Hilaire

Introduction

Aniel Saint-Hilaire is a Miami-area tax return preparer whose business a federal court has permanently shut down. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a permanent injunction barring Saint-Hilaire from acting as a return preparer, preparing tax returns or advising others in the preparation of tax returns, investing in or receiving fees from a tax return preparation business, or working in or consulting with a tax return preparation business. The court also ordered him to disgorge $571,739.47 to the United States. The Justice Department announced the injunction on October 28, 2026. This is a civil matter: Saint-Hilaire has not been criminally charged, and the release records no criminal case.

Background Information

The case grew out of findings by a Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida. According to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, Saint-Hilaire filed federal income tax returns using other return preparers’ PTINs. The Magistrate Judge also determined that Saint-Hilaire prepared federal income tax returns that understated taxpayers’ liabilities, including by fraudulently claiming deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses, fuel tax credits, Residential Clean Energy credits, and Health Savings Account deductions. On those findings, the United States asked the court to enjoin him, and the Justice Department’s Civil Division, through its Tax Litigation Branch, carried the matter to judgment.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Civil injunction — not a criminal case. The findings below come from a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation adopted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which entered the permanent injunction the United States requested. Saint-Hilaire has not been criminally charged in this matter, and the release records no criminal case.

Per the release, the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation found that Saint-Hilaire filed federal income tax returns using other return preparers’ PTINs, and that the returns he prepared understated taxpayers’ liabilities — including by fraudulently claiming deductions for unreimbursed employee business expenses, fuel tax credits, Residential Clean Energy credits, and Health Savings Account deductions. The District Court Judge adopted the Report and Recommendation on these points and entered the permanent injunction requested by the United States. The District Court found that 59% of the returns Saint-Hilaire prepared claimed these fictitious items, and ordered him to disgorge to the United States $571,739.47 in ill-gotten gains — a figure that represents 59% of his net return preparation fees. The injunction’s reach is total within the field: it bars him from preparing returns, advising others on preparation, investing in or receiving fees from a return-preparation business, and even working in or consulting with one.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The injunction was announced by Deputy Assistant Attorney General Joshua Wu of the Civil Division’s Tax Litigation Branch. Tax Litigation Branch attorneys Jeremy A. Rill and Hana Bilicki (no longer with the Branch) handled the matter. The release paired the enforcement action with consumer guidance: “Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers,” it cautions, pointing to IRS information on choosing a tax return preparer, a free directory of federal tax preparers, and a set of 10 tips to avoid tax season fraud and safeguard personal information. The Justice Department situates the case in a wider enforcement record, noting that in the past decade it has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes is maintained on the department’s website, and members of the public who believe an enjoined person or business may be violating an injunction are asked to contact the Civil Division’s Tax Litigation Branch with details.

Current Status

The permanent injunction entered by the Southern District of Florida is in effect, and Saint-Hilaire owes the United States $571,739.47 in disgorged fees. He is barred from every form of participation in federal tax return preparation — as a preparer, an adviser, an investor, a fee recipient, an employee, or a consultant. The release records no criminal case against him, no criminal charges, and no appeal. As announced, the matter stands as a civil court judgment adopted from a Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, with the findings summarized above matters of court record rather than allegations awaiting trial.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The injunction ends Saint-Hilaire’s tax preparation business by court order, and unlike a license suspension or a penalty, it is permanent. He cannot prepare federal income tax returns for anyone, cannot advise others on preparation, and cannot even stand behind the scenes of the trade — no investing in, receiving fees from, working in, or consulting with a tax return preparation business. The disgorgement order strips away $571,739.47, the portion of his net return-preparation fees the court tied to the fictitious deductions it found on 59% of his returns. His name now appears in the Justice Department’s public listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes, alongside the hundreds of preparers enjoined over the past decade. The release records no criminal charges against him, and frames the court’s action as protection for taxpayers rather than punishment through prosecution.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, Tax Litigation Branch, “Court Orders Miami Tax Return Preparer to Permanently Shut Down Tax Preparation Business,” October 28, 2026 — source