New York City Tax Lawyer
Frederick Gawronski
Tax problems are serious matters. When it comes to addressing serious matters, you should hire professionals with experience. Sometimes, however, that isn’t enough. Sometimes you need a dedicated professional willing to make your tax problem his tax resolution. As experienced New York City Tax lawyers at Cook & Gawronski, P.C., that is the personal service you will receive.
Contact our firm today if you need legal assistance with any of the following:
- Tax resolution before the IRS
- Tax resolution before NYS Department of Taxation and Finance
- Individual and Business Tax Planning
- Estate Planning
- Bankruptcy
- Foreclosure
- Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
- Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Cook & Gawronski, P.C. is a boutique law firm designed to provide exceptional legal service to business owners and businesses with tax problems. With individualized attention, we will work with you to understand your situation, providing advice and strategies developed through the years to reorganize, improve and “turn around” your particular circumstances.
With offices in New York City and Buffalo, Cook & Gawronski, P.C. has been successfully representing taxpayers across New York State since 2003. And as a small firm, each engagement is headed by a tax attorney experienced with resolving a variety of tax matters. In fact, before any engagement with the firm, you will meet and discuss your situation with the principle shareholder, Frederick J. Gawronski.
Mr. Gawronski is admitted to practice law in New York State, including the Federal and Bankruptcy courts of the Southern, Eastern, Western and Northern Districts. A graduate of the Villanova University Masters in Taxation program, he has been successfully representing taxpayers since 1996. He has extensive experience working with individuals and businesses in all manner of tax compliance, tax planning and tax resolution.
During the course of your initial no-cost consultation, you will be able to present the facts and circumstances regarding your situation. Mr. Gawronski will be able to advise you in general terms what are your rights and responsibilities when dealing with the taxing authorities. Further, he will be able to answer general questions regarding your situation. Finally, he will be able to discuss general solutions available to taxpayers with tax problems. Obviously, specific solutions to your specific problems cannot be offered without a thorough analysis of your current practices and problem areas.
Specific solutions to your specific problems can typically only be achieved by engaging a professional to address the situation. If, after your initial consultation, you wish to engage the firm of Cook & Gawronski to address your tax problems, you may discuss the terms of that engagement with Mr. Gawronski. The general terms will require that you provide the firm all the information pertinent to your situation, an executed retainer agreement outlining the firm’s responsibilities to you and an agreed hourly billing rate. As each taxpayer’s set of facts and circumstances is unique, so is each engagement.
SERVICESIf you choose to engage Cook & Gawronski to address your tax problems, we will provide the following services as well as others, as they pertain to your specific circumstances:
Analyze your financial situation, past current and looming. Tax problems are often the result of financial instability caused by unrelated issues. An analysis of your financial situation may uncover a link between them. We can then implement steps to break the link and stop future tax concerns.
Provide counsel pertaining to New York Corporate, Business and Tax Law. In many instances, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and other state agencies can cause as much if not more problems to the taxpayer as the Internal Revenue Service. Failure to address the correspondence, demands and notices from these agencies can be a critical mistake. Some of the same general strategies used when dealing with the IRS can be applied when dealing with the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. Offers in Compromise, Installment Agreements, Penalty and Interest Abatements (Eliminate) as well as filing delinquent returns are just a few means available to the taxpayer when dealing with the state taxing authority.
Provide counsel pertaining to Federal Tax and Bankruptcy Law. When dealing with IRS, there are many strategies available to address the taxpayer’s liabilities. Some are used alone but most often they are used in concert to ensure the taxpayer’s rights are fully protected. Some of those strategies are: Offers in Compromise are implemented when a taxpayer does not have the financial means to pay his tax liability in full. Offers can be made to the IRS when there is a doubt as to collectability of the tax, doubt as to liability of the tax and as an effective tax administration if the taxpayer faces exigent circumstances. An abatement (elimination) of penalties and interest associated with the outstanding tax can be requested for good cause. An Installment Agreement can be requested to pay outstanding taxes over time. Based on the type of taxes due and owing and when the associated returns were filed, some taxes are dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Introduce you to a network of turnaround specialists. Some situations warrant that other professional be brought into an engagement. If applicable, we can introduce you to professionals that may be able to assist with your situation.
If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced New York City Tax lawyer, call Cook & Gawronski, P.C. today at 866-643-4913, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule a free consultation.
My return is prepared, but I owe the Internal Revenue Service money and can't afford to pay. Should I file?
Even if you can't pay your Federal income tax, you still should file your return. You can request extensions, which give you until August 15, and again, until October 15 to file. The penalty for not filing your return is five percent (5%) per month on the balance due, up to twenty-five percent (25%). Depending on the circumstances, you also could be criminally charged for "failure to file." Paying what you can reduces the amount on which you have to pay penalties. The failure to pay penalty is one-half (1/2) of one percent (1%) per month. A tax professional can help you work out a monthly payment arrangement with the Internal Revenue Service, although interest and penalties continue to accrue on the unpaid balance until it is paid in full.
Can I eliminate my personal taxes through bankruptcy?
As long as the returns did not involve "fraud," Federal and state income taxes can be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, provided the returns were filed and the taxes assessed more than three years before the bankruptcy petition is filed. An additional requirement is that the Bankruptcy Court (or Internal Revenue Service) determines that the taxpayer did not willfully attempt to evade or defeat the taxes in question. There are additional rules for discharging taxes assessed subsequent to filing, as a result of an audit. Taxes due based on returns prepared by the Internal Revenue Service as "substitutes for returns," cannot be discharged. Employment or payroll taxes, including the trust fund recovery penalty, cannot be discharged. You should consult with an attorney whose practice is concentrated in bankruptcy, as well as with a tax professional, if necessary.
What is an Offer in Compromise?
An Offer in Compromise is an agreement between the taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service that resolves the taxpayer's liability for less than full payment. The most frequent basis for acceptance of an Offer is that doubt exists that the taxpayer could ever pay the full amount owed. This determination is based on a Collection Information Statement (Form 433-A), showing the taxpayer's current financial situation, including the value of assets and current income and expenses for purposes of projecting future income over a specified period, which depends on the statute of limitations. Before filing an Offer (Form 656), the taxpayer must have filed all required returns. Returns also must be filed timely, on a fully paid basis, while the Internal Revenue Service considers the Offer and for five (5) years after the Offer is accepted. If a bankruptcy proceeding is pending, the Offer cannot be considered by the Internal Revenue Service until the bankruptcy is terminated. To find out if you qualify, you should consult with a tax professional.
What is a trust fund recovery penalty?
When employment or payroll taxes are not paid by the business, the Internal Revenue Service can assess liability against the "responsible officers" of the business for the unpaid trust fund portion of the tax, i.e., the amounts withheld from employees for income tax, social security and Medicare. The penalty cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. If the Internal Revenue Service proposes a trust fund recovery penalty (or the Illinois Department of Revenue issues a Notice of Penalty Liability for sales tax or withheld state income taxes), you should consult a tax professional, as there are ways to minimize or avoid the liability.
I was divorced last year and now the Internal Revenue Service is after me for taxes owed on returns I previously filed with my ex-husband. How do I qualify for "innocent spouse" relief?
If you filed a joint return with your ex-spouse, there is an understatement of tax on the return(s) due to erroneous items (items omitted from or incorrectly reported on the joint return), you can show that when you signed the return(s) you did not know or had no reason to know that the understatement of tax existed (or the extent to which the understatement existed) and taking into account all the facts and circumstances, it would be unfair to hold you liable for the understatement of tax, you may be allowed innocent spouse relief. We recommend that you consult with a tax professional before you file Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief.
If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced New York City Tax lawyer, call Cook & Gawronski, P.C. today at 866-643-4913, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule a free consultation.
If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced New York City Tax lawyer, call Cook & Gawronski, P.C. today at 866-643-4913, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule a free consultation.
ADDRESS OF THE FIRM:
Cook & Gawronski, P.C.
115 East 57th Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Additional Location:
Olympic Towers
300 Pearl Street, Suite 335
Buffalo, New York 14202
Phone: 866-643-4913
Hours: M-F, 8:00AM-5:00PM
MEMBERS OF THE FIRM:
Attorney Frederick J. Gawronski
- Jurisdictions Attorney is Licensed in: New York State; All U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts in NYS
- Date Admitted to the Bar: 1996
- Colleges Attended, Degree & Year Graduated: Bucknell University, BA, 1987; Ohio Northern University, JD, 1995; Villanova University, LLM in Taxation, 1996
- Professional Memberships & Achievements: American Bar Association – Business Law Section; New York State Bar Association – Business Law Section; Erie County Bar Association – Commercial and Bankruptcy Section
- Publications: ADEA Awards: Using Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress to Exclude from Gross Income under §104(a)(2) – Villanova Tax Law Compendium, 1997. The Purchase of a QTIP Remainder Interest by the Surviving Spouse: Why It Must Fail – Villanova Tax Law Compendium, 1997.
Additional Questions or need further information?
Additional Location:
Olympic Towers
300 Pearl Street, Suite 335
Buffalo, New York 14202
Fax: 716-854-3020
We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.
