Tax Accountant for Lawyers — NYC
What We Handle for Attorneys
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K-1 and Partnership Income — Law firm partners receive Schedule K-1s that report ordinary income, guaranteed payments, and sometimes capital gains or losses. We reconcile these against your actual distributions and handle the self-employment tax calculation that trips up most generalist accountants.
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Solo Practice Tax Planning — If you’re hanging your own shingle, we handle entity selection (PLLC, S-corp election), quarterly estimated payments, and the deductions that matter — bar dues, CLE, malpractice insurance, office space, legal research subscriptions.
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Associate Bonus Optimization — Big Law bonuses create withholding problems. The supplemental wage withholding rate doesn’t match your actual marginal rate in New York, and if your firm uses the aggregate method, the math gets worse. We adjust your W-4 and estimated payments accordingly.
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Of Counsel & Lateral Transitions — Moving firms, going of counsel, or shifting from partner to W-2 arrangements mid-year creates split-income situations that need careful handling on the return.
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Retirement and Deferred Comp — Firm retirement plans, deferred compensation arrangements, and the decision about whether to fund a solo 401(k) versus a defined benefit plan when you’re on your own.
Why NYC Lawyers Need Specialized Tax Work
The biggest mistake we see with law firm partners is treating the K-1 like a W-2. It isn’t. Your K-1 income is subject to self-employment tax up to the Social Security wage base, plus the 0.9% additional Medicare tax above $250,000 for joint filers. And unlike W-2 earners, nobody is withholding any of this for you during the year.
Solo practitioners face a different problem: they’re running a business and practicing law at the same time, and the bookkeeping usually suffers. We see attorneys who commingle personal and business funds, miss deductible expenses because they didn’t track them, and underpay estimated taxes because the income is lumpy — one big settlement can change the entire year’s tax picture in a single month.
Whether you’re a litigation partner at a Midtown firm or a solo criminal defense attorney in Brooklyn, the tax work needs to be done by someone who understands legal practice economics.
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Let’s look at your K-1, your entity setup, and your estimated payments — and make sure nothing is being left on the table.