Owner Shocked Over IRS Raid

The owner of Carrillo’s Tax in Idaho Falls broke her silence Friday evening after a raid by the IRS on Thursday.

When April Carrillo received a phone call Thursday morning around 10 a.m., she didn’t expect it to be the IRS.

“They can go through all the files they need to, but if they needed to do that, I don’t see why they had to destruct the property to get them,” said Carrillo. “I could’ve opened the door and given it to them because I have nothing to hide.”

It was an anonymous tip, she said, that brought the IRS Criminal Investigation Division to her business without prior notice or explanation as to what they were doing.

“It’s upsetting getting that many phone calls a day because people don’t know what’s going on,” said Carrillo. “We’re fine at this point. They have not contacted me about anything else.”

Carrillo said the special agents left her business a complete mess. Papers scattered all over the floor, doors completely busted, file cabinets off the hinges, her surveillance camera equipment broken and her computer system crashed.

Carrillo said the amount of damage done to her business totals upwards of $3,000.

Carrillo said she’s been in the tax business for 11 years and this is the first time something like this has happened to her. She said she’s worried about her clients. Most of them have been scared off by Thursday’s search and a good number of them have had their paperwork taken by the IRS … all for investigation.

“I just think it’s scary that they [the IRS] can come into whatever [business] they want, do whatever they want and take whatever they want,” said Carrillo.

For now, Carrillo said she’s been able to resume her day-to-day operations. She said, though, she isn’t going down without a fight. She’s been speaking with lawyers and is waiting to hear what the IRS finds through their investigation.