Auerbach Law Group, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

The firm's work centers on tax. It handles federal, New York State and New York City tax matters for corporations, partnerships and individuals. That range covers a business and the people who own it. It reaches the tax questions a company meets while it operates, and the personal returns that go with them.

The listed services begin with audits and widen from there. Administrative appeals, collection proceedings, offers in compromise and voluntary disclosures all appear on the firm's pages. An audit is the agency's review of a filed return. An appeal is the internal challenge that follows when the audit result looks wrong to the taxpayer.

Domestic and international taxation both show up in the work. Inside that, the matters reach income, estate and gift tax. International tax adds a layer, because income and assets that cross borders can trigger reporting in more than one country. The firm names this area, so a client with foreign income or accounts has somewhere to begin.

How tax disputes escalate

Tax controversy work moves through stages, and the firm's pages follow that path. A dispute often begins with an audit, then moves to an administrative appeal inside the agency. If the appeal does not settle the bill, the matter can go to United States Tax Court or another court. The firm says it appears before federal and state courts and tax agencies, and it names the IRS, the United States Tax Court and New York tax authorities among them.

United States Tax Court plays a specific part in that path. It lets a taxpayer dispute a proposed deficiency before paying it, which marks it off from the courts that hear refund claims. The firm names the Tax Court among the forums where it appears. For a client holding a notice of deficiency, that is often where the clock starts.

The firm lists both civil and criminal tax work, and the two run on separate tracks. Civil matters turn on how much tax is owed and how it gets collected. Criminal matters can involve the IRS, the Department of Justice and United States Attorneys' offices. In my opinion, a firm that names both sides gives a client a clearer sense of scope before the first call.

Who handles the work

The site names one attorney, Lee David Auerbach, a member of the firm. He is also an accountant, which is a practical pairing in tax work. He earned his J.D. from Vermont Law School in 1977 and joined the New York bar in 1978. That admission date puts his time in practice at more than four decades.

His practice covers income, estate and gift taxation, along with tax collection matters. It also reaches estate planning, business formation, bankruptcy and business litigation. He represents clients before federal and state courts and tax agencies. As a reviewer, I read the accountant credential as the link between the firm's tax and business work.

The single named profile shapes how the firm's work reads. Tax comes first, and the business and estate matters grow out of it. A client working with the firm can expect that combined lens on a problem. The accountant side reads the numbers while the lawyer side handles the filings and the court steps.

Business and estate matters

Beyond tax, the firm runs a business practice. It covers entity formation, contracts and business dissolution. It also handles shareholder disputes and business litigation. These matters connect back to tax, because how a company forms and closes shapes what it owes, and the firm keeps both questions under one roof.

The firm also handles estate matters. The site lists wills, trusts, estate planning and estate administration. It names probate, asset protection and bankruptcy as well. Estate and gift tax questions cross into this area, which fits a firm built around tax, and the same lawyer can carry both.

Both areas share a thread with the tax side. A business sale can carry a capital gains question. An estate plan can turn on gift tax limits. The firm groups these together, so a client with one issue can raise the next in the same office.

Collection matters and process

The firm lists IRS collection work and offers in compromise, so it helps to know how those generally proceed. When a tax bill goes unpaid, the IRS can collect through liens and levies. An offer in compromise asks the agency to accept less than the full balance, based on what the taxpayer can realistically pay. A voluntary disclosure, another listed service, lets a taxpayer report past issues before the agency acts.

These paths run on documents and deadlines. Financial statements, filed returns and agency notices all feed the decision. The firm's part in each is to build the record and deal with the agency for the client. That is steady, detail heavy work, and it suits a firm that pairs legal and accounting training.

Timing drives a voluntary disclosure. A taxpayer who comes forward before the agency opens a case can be in a stronger spot than one who waits. The firm lists this service next to its collection work. Both call for the close reading of a client's records that the firm is built around.

Offices, reach and record

The firm is based in White Plains, in Westchester County, north of New York City. It also lists offices in East Hampton and Chappaqua. Its stated client base is in New York. The three sites keep all of the work near the courts and agencies the firm names.

The office locations give the firm more than one point of contact across New York. East Hampton reaches the East End of Long Island. Chappaqua covers a part of northern Westchester. A tax matter can run largely by mail, phone and filing, so a client outside those towns can still use the firm.

The firm states that it has more than four decades of experience. The site does not list a founding year, so that figure is the main marker of its history. In my opinion, the length of that record is the clearest fact a prospective client can weigh here. Lee David Auerbach's 1978 bar admission lines up with that span.