The Law Offices of Lawrence Israeloff, PLLC

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The Law Offices of Lawrence Israeloff, PLLC Lawrence Israeloff, Esq., CPA, CFP® is an experienced attorney, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Sometimes you need a lawyer. Sometimes you need an accountant.

Sometimes you need legal help regarding taxes and financial planning. The good news is The Law Offices of Lawrence Israeloff, PLLC can help you on all counts. The Law Offices of Lawrence Israeloff, PLLC provides valuable, intelligent, and creative solutions to address our clients’ business, financial, tax and legal matters. Lawrence Israeloff, Esq., CPA, CFP® is an experienced attorney, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and Certified Financial Planner Professional (CFP®), providing a one-stop shop for our clients’ tax, accounting, trusts and estate planning, and business management needs.

Sold your NYC business for $2M and assumed the tax is “just capital gains”?For a city resident, federal, state, and city...
09/25/2026

Sold your NYC business for $2M and assumed the tax is “just capital gains”?

For a city resident, federal, state, and city taxes can claim close to 35% of the gain. The sale price is not the number that matters. What you keep is.

The good news: the structure of a sale is one of the few things you still control, and it is where most of the tax is saved or lost.

A few tools worth knowing before you sign:

Installment sales can spread the gain across years and keep you out of the top brackets.

QSBS (Section 1202) can exclude a large share of the gain, but only for C corporation stock that meets the rules.

1031 exchanges no longer cover a business itself, but they can still defer gain on real estate you own.

The catch with all of them: they have to be in place before closing. The owners who keep the most start two to three years out.

Thinking about an exit? Let's map it out while you still have room to plan.

An NYC business sale can hand roughly 35% of your gain to federal, state, and city taxes. See how installment sales, QSBS, and 1031 exchanges help you keep more.

Every dollar in your traditional IRA is money you haven't paid tax on yet. Which means part of your retirement account a...
08/20/2026

Every dollar in your traditional IRA is money you haven't paid tax on yet. Which means part of your retirement account already belongs to the IRS.

A Roth IRA conversion is one of the few ways to decide, on your own terms, when to settle that bill.

For New Yorkers in their 50s and early 60s with serious savings, the years between retiring and starting required withdrawals can be a rare low-tax window. Convert thoughtfully during those years and you can lock in today's rates, hand your heirs a tax-free account instead of a 10-year tax trap, and even shrink your exposure to New York's brutal estate tax cliff.

But conversions can also backfire: Medicare surcharges, cash flow, and timing all matter.

Here's how we think through it.

Thinking about a Roth IRA conversion in 2026? A NY tax attorney and CPA breaks down bracket arbitrage, the New York estate tax cliff, and IRMAA traps to avoid

The federal estate tax exemption is now $15 million and permanent. So New Yorkers are safe, right?Not quite.New York has...
08/03/2026

The federal estate tax exemption is now $15 million and permanent. So New Yorkers are safe, right?

Not quite.

New York has its own estate tax, and a "cliff" most families have never heard of. Go just 5% over the state's $7.35M exemption, and you lose the exemption on the entire estate, not just the excess.

The math is brutal: an extra $400,000 in assets can trigger roughly $680,000 in New York estate tax. A marginal rate over 100%.

The good news is that the cliff is one of the most avoidable taxes on the books, through lifetime gifting (New York has no gift tax), credit shelter trusts, and a few well-timed moves.

New York's 2026 estate tax cliff can wipe out your entire $7.35M exemption if you're just 5% over, turning a small gain into a ~$680K bill. Here's how to avoid it.

A lot of New York business owners we've talked to this spring assumed the PTET election deadline moved from March 15 to ...
06/19/2026

A lot of New York business owners we've talked to this spring assumed the PTET election deadline moved from March 15 to September 15 in 2026.

It didn't. The extension was proposed in the FY2026 budget and ultimately dropped.

That matters because the OBBBA's new $40,000 SALT cap has genuinely changed the math on whether the PTET is worth electing, and the decision now needs more planning, not less. For most of our S-corp, LLC, and partnership clients, electing is still the right call. But "still right" isn't the same as "automatic."

Quick breakdown of what changed, what didn't, and how to think about the 2027 election.

New York's PTET election deadline didn't move to September after all. Here's what S-corp, LLC, and partnership owners need to know about the 2026 pass-through entity tax, including how the new SALT cap changes the math.

The sunset everyone planned around never happened.The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the federal estate and gift tax ex...
05/26/2026

The sunset everyone planned around never happened.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the federal estate and gift tax exemption permanent at $15 million per person, no expiration date. For high-net-worth families who spent 2017–2025 making defensive gifts and funding irrevocable trusts to beat the TCJA cliff, that's genuinely good news.

But it doesn't mean your plan is optimized for the new landscape.
Our latest post breaks down exactly what changed, what didn't, and where the highest-leverage planning moves are in 2026.

The 2026 estate tax exemption is now permanent at $15M. If you made defensive gifts before the TCJA sunset, your plan may need a second look.

Missed the tax deadline? Don't panic – but don't wait, either.The failure-to-file penalty runs at 5% per month. The fail...
04/22/2026

Missed the tax deadline? Don't panic – but don't wait, either.

The failure-to-file penalty runs at 5% per month. The failure-to-pay penalty is only 0.5%. That gap is why filing immediately (even if you can't pay) is almost always the right first move.

Whether you're self-employed with a complicated return or you simply ran out of time, the path back to good standing is usually shorter than you think.

Missed the 2026 tax deadline? Learn what IRS penalties apply, how extensions really work, and your options for getting back into compliance – fast.

Address

445 Broadhollow Road Ste 100
Melville, NY
11747

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 7pm
Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 7pm
Friday 9am - 7pm

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+15165374440

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