WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in Los Angeles has barred Michael Muhammad (also known as Michael Eugene Wall and Michael Muta Ali Muhammad), from preparing federal income tax returns for others. The permanent injunction was signed by Judge R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The court held that Muhammad promotes a tax-fraud scheme by preparing federal income tax returns for customers reporting no income based on Muhammad’s theory that only income earned in the District of Columbia and other federal territories need be reported. The court further held that Muhammad falsely promotes a scheme under which customers don’t report wage income on the theory that compensation for labor is not income. Federal courts across the country have repeatedly rejected these and similar claims.
The court also ordered Muhammad to give the Justice Department a list of his customers’ names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and Social Security numbers. More information about the case is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv05416.htm.
The Justice Department has sought and obtained injunctions against more than 170 federal tax return preparers and promoters since 2001. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department website at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/taxpress2006.htm. More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/index.html.
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