Justice sues East Cleveland tax preparer

Washington — The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to stop an East Cleveland tax return preparer from preparing federal tax returns and from promoting an alleged tax scheme that omits wages from taxpayers’ returns.

The lawsuit also seeks an injunction against Michael A. Allamby to bar him from advertising, marketing or promoting any false, misleading or deceptive position, and to stop him from conducting seminars and selling a book that promotes the position that wages aren’t taxable income. It also seeks to make Allamby turn over his customer list to the Justice Department.

According to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Allamby prepares federal returns for his customers that report zero total income, despite filing the accompanying W-2 forms indicating that the customers received thousands of dollars in wages or salaries. The returns also request refunds of all federal income taxes withheld. The complaint states that, since January 2000, the IRS has processed hundreds of returns that he prepared.

According to the complaint, Allamby conducts “training courses” across the country, promoting his views and soliciting customers for his return-preparation business, and that he authored a book, “To the Best of My Knowledge and Belief,” encouraging readers to file returns that omit wages from income. According to court papers, Allamby has conducted 10 courses since 2000, including courses in Detroit and New York City within the past year.

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