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 . ;