A Birmingham-area tax preparer is facing federal charges in one of the largest tax fraud cases to come out of Alabama in years, after prosecutors say he filed thousands of returns falsely claiming energy tax credits. His name is Michael Shine, also referred to in court documents as Michael Anthony Shine, and he’s 55, from Birmingham, with his business located in Center Point.
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Alabama indicted Shine on 30 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return, plus three counts of filing a false tax return, bringing his total federal charges to 33.
The Business Behind the Scheme
Shine owned and operated a tax preparation business called Shine’s Professional Services. According to the indictment, between 2021 and 2026, Shine prepared or assisted in preparing false tax returns for clients. The returns allegedly contained false information about whether clients actually had qualified geothermal heat pump property costs, the kind of home energy upgrade that can legally qualify someone for a federal tax credit, if it actually happened.
Except, according to prosecutors, in many of these cases it didn’t. Clients ended up receiving tax refunds they weren’t entitled to, based on upgrades that were never actually made.
How Big the Numbers Got
The scale here is genuinely staggering. Shine and his business allegedly filed tax returns claiming more than $70 million in refunds, and the IRS ended up paying out approximately $65 million of that before the scheme was caught. U.S. Attorney Phillip Williams reportedly described the case as the third largest tax fraud case in years.
Investigators say more than 8,000 fraudulent returns were filed between 2022 and 2026. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, commenting on the case, put the scale of individual false claims in perspective, saying some returns falsely claimed that $120,000 or more in qualifying work had been done on a property when nothing had actually happened at all.
He Allegedly Kept Going After Getting Caught
Here’s the part that stands out most. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Shine’s Professional Services on March 19, 2026. Prosecutors say that instead of stopping, Shine modified and continued the scheme afterward, allegedly using publicly available consumer tax software to keep preparing and filing false returns even after investigators had already been inside his business.
His Own Tax Returns Were Allegedly False Too
It wasn’t just client returns either. The indictment also accuses Shine of filing false personal income tax returns for 2023, 2024, and 2025, allegedly underreporting his own income from the tax preparation business and reporting geothermal heat pump costs he never actually incurred, while claiming residential energy credits he wasn’t entitled to receive.
Part of a Bigger Regional Crackdown
Shine’s case wasn’t announced in isolation. It’s one of three Alabama cases included in a broader series of fraud enforcement actions announced by the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, covering 17 cases total across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Combined, those cases involve more than $350 million in intended losses, touching everything from tax fraud to SNAP benefits, SBA loans, and housing assistance fraud.
What He’s Facing
If convicted, Shine faces up to three years in prison for each false tax return count. Given that he’s facing 33 total counts, the cumulative maximum exposure, in theory, is substantial, though actual sentencing would depend on how a court weighs the full scope of the case.
Where the Case Stands
Right now, everything against Shine remains an allegation. The indictment followed an earlier federal complaint that led to his arrest on the same underlying conduct, and he’s presumed innocent unless the government proves its case in court. Given how large this case is compared to most tax fraud prosecutions, it’s likely to draw continued attention as it works through the federal court system in Alabama.