Court bars tax preparer who inflated deductions

The U.S. Justice Department says a Charleston man prepared hundreds of tax returns that cheated the government out of $55 million.

A federal judge on Tuesday permanently barred Stacy Middleton from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Middleton had been preparing tax returns for more than a decade. Prosecutors say he and another man prepared returns that understated their clients' income tax liabilities and overstated deductions and credits.

From 2008 to 2011, authorities say the men prepared about 17,000 federal returns. Of the records examined by the Internal Revenue Service, more than 90 percent needed adjustments.

In all, the IRS estimates that the U.S. Treasury lost as much as $55 million in revenue.

Arizona high court to hear school funding case

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday hears arguments in an appeal of a lower court's ruling that requires the state Legislature to give schools an annual funding increase even in lean years to account for inflation.

The high court is reviewing a Court of Appeals decision. It said a voter-approved law requires the Legislature to provide an annual inflation adjustment for state funding to public schools.

School districts and education groups sued after the Legislature in 2010 instead only increased schools' transportation funding, eliminating a $61 million increase in general school spending.

The Supreme Court says it is considering is whether the Voter Protection Act allows voters to require the legislature to increase funding for schools.

The Voter Protection Act severely restricts the Legislature's to change voter-approved laws.

Texas, Wyoming lose court challenge against EPA

A federal appeals court sided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday in an ongoing dispute with Texas and Wyoming over reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia amounted to a defense of the federal Clean Air Act that has faced repeated challenges from Texas, which leads the nation in greenhouse gas emissions.

Federal environmental regulators have required states to include greenhouse gases when issuing pollution permits since 2011. The EPA took over Texas' permitting program when the state refused to comply, but Texas fought to retain control.

State environmental regulators in Texas called the decision disappointing. Bryan Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, criticized the EPA for imposing what he called restrictive timelines on states to meet new requirements.

"In light of all of this, it is remarkable that the D.C. Circuit has repeatedly found no harm to the states with respect to EPA's greenhouse gas rules," Shaw said.

The EPA released a statement saying the agency was pleased that the permitting structure was left in place.