A federal court has permanently barred two Louisiana residents from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court in the Middle District of Louisiana has permanently barred Cynthia Peters and Melissa Edwards after finding that the women and their business, Jasmine's and Melissa's Tax Service, prepared returns that fabricated income and created bogus losses and expenses so that their customers would qualify for the earned income credit.

Clifton Gunderson and LarsonAllen has announced that they will merge effective January 2 and operate under the name CliftonLarsonAllen. The combination of two the top 20 CPA firms in the United States will place the combined entity in the top 10 with combined revenue of more than $550 million annually, more than 500 partners and more than 3,600 professionals. Clifton Gunderson CEO Kris McMasters will oversee CLA LLP, the public accounting practice, while LarsonAllen CEO Gordon Viere will manage the wealth advisory and outsourcing operations.

H&R Block is going to provide tax preparation services in about 300 Walmart stores starting next month. The company made the announcement that it is moving into a chain where Jackson Hewitt has provided such services. Jackson Hewitt had replaced Block at the giant chain to get the tax preparation franchise there. Meanwhile, Jackson Hewitt says it is expanding its operations in Walmart stores.