Timothy S. Hart Law Group, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

Tax is the whole of the work here. The firm keeps offices in Albany and New York City, and it represents individuals and businesses alike. Clients arrive with disputes against two authorities: the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

That split between federal and state matters shapes the service list. A taxpayer might owe the IRS, owe the State, or face both at the same time. Timothy S. Hart Law Group, P.C. handles either side, and that dual coverage is a fair thing for a New York taxpayer to want.

The New York State side of the practice

Federal cases draw most of the public attention, and the firm gives the state side equal billing. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance runs its own audits and pursues its own collections. Its rules overlap with the federal ones in places and differ in others.

A taxpayer can face both agencies over the same year, which means two timelines and two sets of correspondence. Handling the state work alongside the federal work keeps a client with one firm for both. For a New York resident or a New York business, that local reach is a practical point in the firm's favor.

The tax problems the firm takes on

The list of matters is concrete, which helps a reader gauge fit. The firm handles unfiled tax returns and back taxes, two of the more common reasons a taxpayer first calls a tax attorney. It also handles tax audits, tax liens, wage garnishments, and IRS levies.

These are different stages of the same underlying trouble. An audit questions what a taxpayer reported. A lien attaches to property once a debt is assessed. A levy and a wage garnishment go further and take funds or income directly. A firm that works across all of these can meet a client at whatever point the problem has reached.

Payroll tax issues appear on the list as well, and they matter most to businesses that withhold from employee wages. The firm also handles FBAR and FATCA reporting, the rules covering foreign bank accounts and foreign assets. Those obligations catch many people off guard, and errors carry real penalties.

How a tax dispute gets resolved

Naming a problem is one thing. Settling it is the harder part, and the firm lists several routes. An offer in compromise asks the IRS to accept less than the full balance owed. An installment agreement spreads the balance into monthly payments.

Penalty relief and IRS reconsideration both work after an assessment, and both aim at cutting what a taxpayer owes. Voluntary disclosure gives a taxpayer a path to report income or accounts before the agency acts on its own. Each of these runs through its own IRS procedure, with its own forms and its own reviewers.

Choosing among the remedies

Which route fits a given case depends on the numbers. A taxpayer who cannot pay the full amount may qualify for an offer in compromise, while one who can pay over time is a better fit for an installment agreement. Voluntary disclosure suits someone with unreported foreign accounts who wants to correct the record. Matching a situation to the right procedure is much of what a tax attorney does at the start.

Tax appeals and U.S. Tax Court representation sit at the formal end of the process. When a taxpayer disputes an IRS determination, the appeal goes to an independent office inside the agency. If that step fails, the U.S. Tax Court hears the case, and only admitted practitioners can appear before it. In my opinion, that admission matters more than it first appears, because it means the same person who advises a client can also stand up in the Tax Court for them.

Who leads the firm

Timothy S. Hart founded the firm, and the site names him as its founding attorney. He is a tax attorney and a certified public accountant, so he holds both a law license and a CPA credential. That combination fits tax work, where a single case often turns on accounting questions and legal ones together.

Hart is admitted to practice in the U.S. Tax Court, which ties directly to the court representation the firm offers. He belongs to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and to the New York Bar Association. His education includes a law degree from Widener Law School and a Masters in Taxation from the University at Albany, and he attended Siena College.

The dual role has a practical effect. A CPA can prepare returns and represent a taxpayer before the IRS in many settings. An attorney can take a matter into court and argue points of law. One person who holds both roles can carry the accounting work and the courtroom work himself, keeping the case with a single professional.As a reviewer, I read the Masters in Taxation in addition to that as a signal of focus.

Access and reach

The firm offers free consultations, which lowers the cost of a first conversation about a tax bill. It also states that it can assist clients in any state. Federal tax law reads the same across the country, so a firm handling IRS matters can work with clients well past its home region.

The two offices give the firm a presence at both the state capital and New York City. The site does not list a founding year, so the firm's age is not stated here. What the site does record is a founder who holds a law degree, a Masters in Taxation, and a CPA credential, and who is admitted to the U.S. Tax Court.