WASHINGTON - The United States filed has filed suit seeking to permanently bar Richard E. Almy and his company, REA Associates, Inc., from preparing federal tax returns, the Justice Department announced today. According to the complaint, filed in the Middle District of Florida, Almy and his company prepared tax returns that claimed overstated, duplicated, and fabricated deductions on their clients’ tax returns. An examination by the Internal Revenue Service of 175 tax returns prepared by Almy and his company during 2003 found that all of them required audit adjustments that increased the tax owed.

The government alleges that the defendants’ scheme involved knowingly ignoring or modifying information provided by their clients on summary sheets containing their income and expenses for the applicable tax year. The government estimates in the complaint that this alleged fraudulent tax preparation scheme by Almy and his company has resulted in an understatement of their customers’ federal income tax liabilities of more than $16 million for tax years 2001 through 2003 alone.

The complaint also seeks an order requiring Almy and his company to provide the Justice Department with the names, addresses, social security or taxpayer identification numbers, as well as e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of their customers.

Since 2001, the Justice Department has obtained more than 220 injunctions to stop the promotion of tax fraud schemes and the preparation of fraudulent returns. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.