IRS Tax Relief Long Island, NY Get Help Across Nassau and Suffolk Counties

A balance of $50,000 or less usually qualifies for a streamlined installment agreement, which skips the full financial statement. For many households on Long Island, that's the cleanest route: a fixed monthly payment, generally no levy while the plan is in effect, and far fewer IRS letters.

Bigger balances bring Form 433-A, and here the county matters. The IRS 2026 housing and utilities standard for a family of four is $4,927 a month in Nassau County and $4,370 in Suffolk County, a gap of more than $550. A family in Massapequa and one in Riverhead can earn the same and land in different places.

If your income is seasonal, like landscaping or a summer business out east, we show the IRS twelve months of deposits so it sees the slow months too. Then an enrolled agent asks for terms that fit them.

Plenty of people on Long Island hold a steady W-2 job at a hospital, a school district or an office in the city, which makes the paycheck the easiest thing for the IRS to reach. Before it does, you'll get a CP504, then an LT11 or Letter 1058 that opens a 30-day window to request a Collection Due Process hearing.

Miss that window and the levy goes to your employer, who holds back everything above the Publication 1494 exempt amount each pay period. Because the IRS generally can't keep levying once an installment agreement is in effect, we usually start by getting returns current and a plan or hardship request in front of the IRS, then ask for the release.

A federal tax lien is the IRS's public claim against your property, recorded in county records. On Long Island it tends to surface at the worst moment: a house sale, a refinance, or a business line of credit. A levy is different. It actually takes money, from a bank account, a paycheck, or a payment a general contractor owes you.

When a bank account is levied, the bank holds the money for 21 days before sending it, and that's when we push for a bank levy release. For a house sale, we can apply for a lien discharge so the closing goes through. For a refinance, there's subordination. After a direct debit plan on $25,000 or less, there's withdrawal.

Long Island is expensive, and a layoff, divorce or illness can leave a household with income that covers only the basics. When that happens, the IRS can put the account in currently not collectible status. Levies stop, but interest keeps accruing, a lien can still be filed, and the IRS reviews your finances again down the road.

The test is your Form 433-A against IRS allowances. For one person, the 2026 housing and utilities figure is $3,571 a month in Nassau County and $3,167 in Suffolk County, and car operating costs in the New York metro are allowed at $417 a month. Documenting every real expense is what carries a hardship case.

Most audits are handled by mail. When one needs a meeting, it may be at an IRS office, and Long Island has two: 999 Stewart Avenue in Bethpage and 5000 Corporate Court in Holtsville. If you're self-employed, keep the records behind every Schedule C expense within reach.

With Power of Attorney filed, an enrolled agent handles the examiner for you, from the document request to the final report. That includes audits of a business's payroll tax filings, and innocent spouse relief when a joint return's problem traces back to a former spouse's income or deductions.