A Plantation, Fla., tax preparer has been barred from preparing federal tax returns for others. The Department of Justice said that Keisha Stewart cost the government as much as $1.6 million for tax years 2010, 2011 and 2012.

The profile of this year’s tax return has settled into a pattern. Self-prepared returns are leading the way to slight growth in the total number filed while those from tax professionals lag the 2013 season. That is the general picture for statistics released this week by the Internal Revenue Service for the season through March 14.

BDO Seidman has sold its Synergistic Software Solutions operations and the manufacturing software that unit has marketed to a private equity investment group. Anania & Associates of Windham, Maine, has purchased Synergistic and the JobOps application that is marketed to users of Sage 100 ERP accounting software.