Take the stress out of your tax problems.

Lighthouse Strategies seeks to take the stress out of tax filing and IRS and state tax problems for individuals and small businesses. Virtual tax prep and tax resolution involves sitting down for a one-on-one Zoom session and reviewing your situation. The Lighthouse Client Portal allows you to upload your tax documents securely and an app for your phone allows you to take pictures of your tax documents for even easier portal uploads. We will never ask you to email tax documents. Save the trips to your accountant! Online payments for our fees are done through the Client Portal. Tax accounting made easy. Sign up now using the blue button in the top right corner of the webpage or click here: Client Portal & New Client Signup. Because we do not have the cost of running a storefront, our fees are less than other CPAs. Fees are dependent on the services required. For return preparation, the fees are form based: as with most tax preparation competitors, the more forms that need to be completed the costlier the return. We beat the competition. Recognizing that each situation is unique, tax debt resolution and representation before the IRS fees are dependent on the complexity of the situation. Again, we beat the competition.

We specialize in tax preparation and representation before the IRS and state tax authorities.

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are licensed to practice before the IRS and state taxing authorities and can act as your representative in handling tax debt, IRS Notices of Deficiency, IRS and state tax levies and tax liens, IRS changes to your return, audits, non-filer issues, sales tax debts, IRS Information Requests, and employer tax withholding debts and liens - among many other tax issues that arise.

Additionally, we don’t just prepare tax returns for small businesses and individuals - we look wholistically at you, your business, and your financial picture and determine if there are ways to minimize your tax burden or better handle the financial operations of your business or personal life. We look for deductions and tax credits that you may not know about. All returns for current years are electronically filed. This will get you a faster refund if one is due to you.

CPAs in New York State are required to take 40 hours of “school” per year - called “continuing professional education”. By contrast, attorneys are only required to take 40 hours of education every 3 years! This helps Lighthouse keep on top of the ever changing tax code and tax and business strategies that will benefit you and your business.

The United States Tax Code is 2,652 pages. The IRS Regulations which interpret the statutes and carry the force of law are an additional 9,000 pages. This does not count the tax cases where courts interpret and apply the tax laws and regulations. Taxes are not a straight path - they are full of exceptions to the exceptions. While you may save money preparing your own return, what deductions and insights are you missing that are costing you more than the savings? And certainly, handling your own tax issues when there are problems - liens, levies, audits etc -is plain dumb. That will definitely cost you a lot more money and get you into trouble when you step on the many unseen landmines in these areas.

Let yourself sleep!!! Pick up the phone!!

Tax problems cause many people to lose sleep which in turn cascades into other problems. If the pile of unopened IRS letters is giving you a pit in your stomach and causing you to want to cry, become irritable, lose sleep, fighting with a partner - or worse, fighting with your children, call me. Get in front of the problem. The first step towards ending your nightmares is picking up the phone or filling out the contact form to receive a callback. Hand the problem to a professional and relieve your stress. Take the bull by the horns and call!!

We offer the following services

• Individual tax preparation - including schedule C, rental properties and other 1040 schedules

• Business tax preparation including, corporate, partnership, Sub S corps, and non-profit returns

• Gift tax returns

• Out of state and multi-state returns (all 50 states)

• Tax debts, including IRS Liens, state tax liens, IRS levies, state tax levies

• Offers in Compromise to reduce taxes owed

• IRS and state installment agreements to pay down taxes due

• Penalty reduction under certain circumstances

• Innocent spouse relief

• Payroll tax debts resolution

• Non-filer compliance (if you haven’t filed your returns)

• IRS collections

• Sales tax debt resolution

• IRS audits

• IRS and state debts