FEDERAL COURT PERMANENTLY BARS LOS ANGELES MAN FROM
SELLING ABUSIVE TAX SCHEMES, PREPARING TAX RETURNS

Order Also Requires Disclosure of Customer Names

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced that a federal court in Los Angeles has issued an order permanently barring James A. Mattatall, of Harbor City, California, from promoting abusive tax schemes, including those involving trusts used to claim improper deductions. The order also permanently bars Mattatall from preparing federal income-tax returns for others. Mattatall must inform his past and present customers of the injunction and provide a list of his customers to the Justice Department within ten days.

“Stopping tax-scam promotions is a high priority of the Justice Department’s Tax Division,” said Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division. “Each new injunction helps to assure law-abiding taxpayers that those who help others cheat the tax system are not getting away with it.”

The Justice Department presented evidence to the court that Mattatall had illegally advised customers to use trusts to inaccurately report their income and deductions. He also allegedly represented taxpayers before the IRS, and his representations included deliberate attempts to delay and obstruct the enforcement of tax laws. More information about this case is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv03544.htm.

Abusive trusts are one of the scams on the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” list: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=120803,00.html. More information about the misuse of trusts and the IRS’s efforts to stop that abuse is available at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=120803,00.html. The Justice Department has obtained a series of injunctions prohibiting individuals from promoting these schemes. More information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website at: http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2004.htm.

Robert Metcalfe and Norma J. Schrock, trial attorneys with the Justice Department’s Tax Division, represented the United States in this case. The case was referred to the Justice Department by the IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed Division. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax.