Instead, the Atwoods' home was sold at a sheriff's auction in 1997 to American Land Investments because of the delinquent bill. The couple have won several court challenges since then and hope to withstand one more appeal over the property.

The State Tax Commission eventually nullified the 1997 sale, but when the Atwoods tried to sell the house in 2002, they discovered that American Land Investments had sold the property rights to Jamie Land Co., which then sued the Atwoods.

James A. Lindsay II, the company's president, said his rights were violated when the tax commission didn't inform him of its decision.

Without a clear title, the couple couldn't sell the house. Then in 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck. Dolores Atwood said they didn't have insurance, and because of the title, they didn't qualify for federal rebuilding help.

"I don't know how much more I can endure," said Atwood, 69, who lives in a FEMA trailer in front of the still-damaged home north of Slidell. Her husband, 71 and on a respirator, lives with relatives. She said the couple had been through "seven years of emotional hell."

In May 2006, a judge ruled that the property title belongs to the Atwoods. Last month, a state appeals court panel upheld the decision. Jamie Land asked the court to rehear the case, but that request was denied last week.

Now, the company plans to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to take up the case. Lindsay said he doesn't want the Atwoods to suffer, but "I have rights too," adding that the commission gave him no notice when it annulled the tax sale.

"I don't owe him 50 cents," Delores Atwood said, "not with what he's put me through."

The complaint alleges that Green and Baine fraudulently prepared a return for one customer—a gospel singer––that claimed that he purchased 6,214 gallons of diesel fuel for off-highway business use. The suit notes that for the claim to be accurate the gospel singer (whose total income for the year was less than $2,341) would have to have spent approximately $12,248 to purchase that volume of fuel, and would have to have driven approximately 24,280 offroad miles during the year, an average of 340 miles each day of the year.

The government complaint alleges that the IRS has identified more than $150,000 in fraudulent fuel tax credits in returns TAS Services prepared.

The Justice Department obtained an injunction in April against a Miami tax preparer in a case involving allegations of similar fraudulent fuel tax credits. http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07254.htm

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained injunctions against more than 240 tax preparers and tax-fraud promoters. Information on those cases is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at www.usdoj.gov/tax

A federal court in Chicago, Ill., has permanently barred Bertha Steverson of Chicago from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. The court found that Steverson, the owner of Bertha’s Tax Service, prepared tax returns for customers that contained deductions for fictitious expenses. The court found that Steverson has prepared an estimated 1,224 returns since 2004 that have caused an estimated loss to the U.S. Treasury of more than $3 million.

The court’s order requires Steverson to give the Justice Department a list of her customers’ names, addresses, e-mail addresses and Social Security numbers. More information and a copy of the complaint are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07118.htm.

Since 2001 the Justice Department has obtained more than 235 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. More information about these cases is available on the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2007.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html.

Mr. McDonald faces a maximum of 18 months in prison as part of his plea deal; Mr. Cole faces up to 2 years of probation. Both face penalties from the Internal Revenue Service. They will be sentenced Aug. 15.

Aldarelli was arrested in February on an indictment charging him with three counts of tax evasion for calendar years 1998, 1999 and 2000. Chesler scheduled sentencing for Sept. 13.

The count to which Aldarelli pleaded guilty carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $100,000, according to the press release. The remaining counts will be dismissed, however, all of the conduct (known as relevant conduct) described in the indictment will be taken into consideration when Chesler imposes sentence.

The indictment sets forth that from 1998 through 2000, Aldarelli ran two corporations, Aldo 1 Landscaping and Lawn Service Inc. and Aldarelli Enterprises Inc., which performed a large volume of paving, construction, high-end landscaping and lawn-cutting work for private residences and municipalities.

Aldarelli admitted during his guilty plea that because these businesses were "S" corporations, he was required to report any income derived from the businesses on his U.S. individual tax return. The indictment further set forth that for the three years in question, Aldarelli reported that he owed tax in the amount of just under $15,000 for the three years combined.

For calendar year 1999, Aldarelli reported taxable income in the amount of $66,232 with a resulting tax in the amount of $12,121. During his guilty plea, Aldarelli admitted that he intentionally failed to include an additional amount of nearly $300,000 in personal income he received during 1999 on that tax return in an effort to evade paying income taxes, according to the press release. He also admitted that for calendar years 1998, 1999 and 2000, he owed an additional total tax of approximately $317,000 on the basis of income he failed to report.

Aldarelli admitted that this additional income stemmed from the receipt of cash for work his companies performed which he did not report, as well as from cash he withdrew from business accounts but used for personal expenses. He also admitted to writing checks to himself from the business accounts which he used for personal and non-business-related expenses, according to Christie.

The guilty plea of Aldarelli represents the latest conviction to arise from Operation Bid Rig, the same investigation which has led to charges being filed against more than 18 officials in Monmouth and Ocean counties over the last several years, including convictions of the former mayors of Asbury Park, Ocean Township, West Long Branch, Brick Township, Hazlet and Keyport.

The Internal Revenue Service today gave TurboTax customers who were unable to file electronically Tuesday an extension until midnight Thursday.

Intuit, the company that makes the popular tax software, reported that its electronic-filing back-end system was overloaded on Tuesday, making it impossible for an unknown number of users of all the company's tax software products to meet the government's April 17 deadline for filing 2006 returns.

"Intuit product users who were unable to file their returns through the company's servers Tuesday should e-file as soon as possible," the IRS said in a news release posted on its Web site this afternoon. "The IRS will not apply late filing penalties to taxpayers who were affected by this problem."

It's the second extension the IRS has announced today. Earlier, the agency said taxpayers affected by the major storm that hit the northeast on Monday would have until April 26 to file. The agency had initially given storm victims until the 19th, but decided to grant an additional week because storm-related power outages and public transportation problems were making it impossible for some taxpayers and accountants to make the new deadline.

"Time is running out for tax filers to take advantage of the special telephone excise tax refund and other benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit," IRS spokesman Dan Boone said in prepared comments.

"If you don't claim it, you don't get it. That's money down the drain for thousands of Tennesseans."

In addition, many taxpayers also overlook free services available to them, such as free tax help and the Free File program.

Still others lose out by not filing a return at all. Even if a taxpayer does not owe tax and is not required by law to file a return, he may miss out on a refund or tax credit.

Here are some refunds, credits or services Boone says are frequently overlooked:

Telephone Excise Tax Refund - This is a one-time refund of long-distance excise taxes available on 2006 income tax returns. The refund applies to charges billed from March 2003 through July 2006.

The IRS offers a standard refund amount of $30 to $60, or taxpayers can calculate the actual tax paid. Even if the taxpayer does not normally have to file a return, Form 1040EZ-T can be used to request this refund.

Businesses and exempt organizations can also request it. Taxpayers can visit IRS.gov for more information on this special payment.

"Tennesseans have already left more than $12 million on the table by failing to request this special refund," Boone said.

IRS Free File - Nearly 20 companies are offering free electronic filing to taxpayers whose 2006 adjusted gross income was $52,000 or less. That means 1.9 million Tennesseans can take advantage of the IRS-sponsored Free File program.

"Free File users get all the benefits of IRS E-file: a faster refund, a virtually error-free return, and confirmation that the IRS received your tax return," Boone said. A link to Free File offerings is located on the IRS.gov homepage.

Earned Income Tax Credit - Earned income of less than $39,000 in 2006 may qualify a taxpayer to claim the earned income tax credit.

This credit could be worth up to $4,536.

When the EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.

To qualify, taxpayers must meet certain requirements and file a tax return, even if they did not earn enough money to be obligated to file a return. An electronic special "EITC Assistant" is available on IRS.gov to help taxpayers determine whether they are eligible.

Taxpayers can access more information on this credit by visiting IRS.gov and clicking on "1040 Central."

"More than half-a-million Tennesseans claimed EITC last year, but the IRS estimates that another 20 to 25 percent could be claiming it," Boone said.

Unclaimed Refunds - Refunds totaling approximately $30.8 million are waiting for about 27,600 Tennesseans who failed to file a federal income tax return for 2003.

In order to collect the money, a return for 2003 must be filed no later than April 17.

The IRS estimates that half of those who could claim refunds would receive more than $600. In some cases, individuals had taxes withheld from their wages, or made payments against their taxes out of self-employed earnings, but had too little income to require filing a tax return.