Tax planning clients for New York CPA and EA firms

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Short answer

In New York the owners to meet are partnerships and S corporations that should weigh the PTET, and city residents who may also qualify for NYC PTET. The election is annual, closes March 15, and the owner's side has to make it, so the planning meeting belongs in the fall and winter, well before the April crunch.

New York stacks a state income tax, a city income tax for New York City residents and two separate pass-through entity elections, and the elections have to be made early in the year by the business itself. Owners who miss the window lose the choice for that year. That makes New York one of the clearest cases for planning that starts before the April crunch, and it tells you which owners to talk to in the fall.

20 qualified tax planning meetings in 90 days, guaranteed.

Our team contacts and qualifies them so you don't waste time on the wrong leads, then books them on your calendar.

See if your firm is a fit

New York State and New York City income tax

The 2025 New York State rate schedule starts at 4 percent and reaches 10.9 percent. For a joint return, the 10.9 percent bracket begins above $25,000,000 of taxable income, with 9.65 percent from $2,155,350 and 10.3 percent from $5,000,000 [1].

New York City residents pay city tax on top. The 2025 city schedule for a joint return runs from 3.078 percent to 3.876 percent, with the top rate above $90,000 of city taxable income [1]. A business owner who lives in the city and runs a profitable partnership or S corporation is paying at both levels.

Two PTET elections, one deadline

New York's pass-through entity tax (PTET) is optional and must be chosen again every year [2]. The entity opts in online between January 1 and March 15 of the tax year, or by the next business day when March 15 falls on a weekend or holiday [2]. The state election becomes irrevocable after the first estimated payment due date, and the NYC election after March 15 [2][6]. In 2026, March 15 fell on a Sunday, so the deadline moved to March 16 [3].

The state PTET is graduated on the entity's PTE taxable income [4]:

The city version, NYC PTET, is 3.876 percent of NYC PTE taxable income [5]. A partnership with at least one partner who is a city taxpayer, or a New York S corporation whose shareholders are all city taxpayers, can opt in, but only at the same time as it opts in to the state PTET [6]. Single-member LLCs that haven't elected S corporation treatment for New York, sole proprietors and standard S corporations can't elect it [6].

Two rules change how a firm has to work with New York clients:

• The owner has to make the election. The Tax Department says tax professionals may not opt in on behalf of their clients. An authorized person at the business signs in to its Business Online Services account and attests to the election [3][6].
• Estimated payments start in March. PTET estimates are due March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15, paid online by ACH debit only [2]. The annual return is due March 15 after the year ends, and a six-month extension covers filing, not payment [2].

At the federal level, IRS Notice 2020-75 lets the entity deduct the state and city tax it pays, and keeps those payments out of each owner's SALT limit [7]. For 2025 that limit is $40,000, cut by 30 percent of modified adjusted gross income above $500,000, with a $10,000 floor [8].

Sales tax on services in New York

New York taxes a list of services that owners often miss. The Tax Department's guide to sales tax names information services, protective and detective services, and maintenance, servicing and repair of real property among the taxable services [9]. An owner whose business sells any of those has a sales tax point to cover in the planning meeting, alongside income tax.

The New York tax and accounting market in numbers

The figures are from the US Census Bureau's County Business Patterns for 2023, the latest year out [10]. They count business locations that had paid employees in mid-March 2023, which leaves out preparers working alone. Percentages are our arithmetic.

New York CPA offices average about 16 employees each, the highest of the five states in this first batch and well above the US average of about 11. Large firms pull that average up. Eight New York CPA offices have 1,000 or more employees each [10]. Seven in ten New York CPA offices still have fewer than 5 employees, and that is the owner-led firm we work with.

Licensing and the profession in New York

New York licenses CPAs through the State Education Department's Office of the Professions [11]. A new route starts on November 21, 2026. It takes a bachelor's or higher degree, 120 semester hours that include 27 hours of accounting and 30 hours of business, the CPA Exam, and two years of full-time experience or the part-time equivalent [11]. The experience has to be supervised by a US CPA who is properly licensed, and the supervisor verifies it on Form 4B [11]. Once all four exam sections are passed in New York, the exam credit does not expire [11].

The New York State Society of CPAs, NYSSCPA, is the state society [12].

In our view, the new route mostly helps firms hiring junior staff. It also means more licensed people who can sit across from an owner in a planning meeting.

What New York owners pay a planner to decide

Our view of the topics a New York owner will pay a firm to work through:

• Opt in or not, every year. The decision is due by March 15 and has to be made by the owner's side [2][3]. A firm that runs the numbers in the fall and walks the owner through the login earns its fee.
• State plus city. A city-resident owner of a partnership or resident S corporation can face both elections [6]. Whether NYC PTET fits depends on who the owners are and where they live.
• Estimated payments. Four PTET installments a year, ACH only [2], plus the owner's personal estimates. Cash flow planning sits right next to tax planning here.
• Resident S corporation status. An S corporation that wants to file as a resident S corporation for PTET has to certify that all its shareholders are New York residents [2]. A change in ownership can change the answer.
• Services that carry sales tax. Information, protective and repair services [9].

Which New York planning clients to chase

Labelled as our view, based on the figures above:

1. Partnerships with city-resident partners. They qualify for NYC PTET [6], and 59,779 New York employer locations are run by partnerships [10].
2. S corporations whose shareholders all live in New York. They can file as resident S corporations for PTET and, if all shareholders are city taxpayers, can opt in to NYC PTET too [2][6]. 230,043 locations are run by S corporations [10].
3. Owners above $500,000 of modified AGI. Their federal SALT limit is shrinking [8], so the entity-level route is worth more.
4. Businesses that sell information or security services. They need sales tax and income tax looked at together.

Our qualification check keeps out free-advice tire-kickers and clients who only call in March. The New York calendar makes March too late anyway.

Want more New York owners like these on your calendar? Tell us who you want, and we fill the meetings.

See if your firm is a fit

The New York PTET calendar

• January 1 to March 15: annual PTET and NYC PTET election window [2][6].
• March 15, June 15, September 15, December 15: PTET estimated payments [2].
• March 15: PTET annual return for the prior year, with a six-month extension to file only [2].
• November 21, 2026: new 120-hour CPA licensure route starts [11].

Steps for a New York firm this quarter

1. List every partnership and S corporation client and mark which have city-resident owners and which S corporations have only New York resident shareholders.
2. Run the PTET and NYC PTET numbers for 2027 using the graduated state table and the 3.876 percent city rate.
3. Send each electing client a short written guide to opting in through their own Business Online Services account, since your firm can't opt in for them.
4. Put the March 15 estimated payment on each electing client's calendar with the amount.
5. Book a review meeting in January or February for every client still deciding.

How we work with New York firms

Financial Sales Insider is a marketing company based in Florida. We fill the calendars of CPA and EA firms across the US, New York included, with qualified tax planning meetings. Your firm runs each meeting, makes the offer and decides who to take on. Your written criteria can cover city residents only, the whole state, or the states your firm serves. Nothing goes out under your firm's name without your approval.

A qualified meeting is one where a business owner we've qualified books onto your calendar and shows up.

If you have fewer than 20 qualified meetings after 90 days, we keep booking with no further monthly fee until you reach 20.

$3,000 a month. This is the management fee. Ad spend is separate, and your firm funds it directly. The term is 3 months.

Questions New York firm owners ask

Can you fill my calendar before the March 15 election deadline? We put meetings on the days you choose. If you want owners in front of you in the fall and winter, tell us at kickoff and we start from there.

Do you discuss the PTET election with owners? No. We don't give tax advice. Our qualification check confirms fit against your criteria, and the tax conversation is yours.

Can I limit meetings to New York City owners? Yes. Location is one of the criteria you set and sign off before we start.

See if your firm is a fit

20 qualified tax planning meetings in 90 days, guaranteed.

Our team contacts and qualifies them so you don't waste time on the wrong leads, then books them on your calendar.

See if your firm is a fit

General information from the official sources listed below, checked October 25, 2026. Not tax or legal advice.

Also on this site

• Tax planning clients by state
• Texas
• California
• Illinois
• Florida
• How we book qualified meetings
• About Financial Sales Insider

Sources

1. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Instructions for Form IT-201 (2025), New York State and New York City tax rate schedules. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/it/it201i.pdf
2. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Pass-through entity tax (PTET). https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/ptet/
3. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, PTET Web File instructions and 2026 calendar. https://www.tax.ny.gov/e-services/ptet/instructions.htm (PTET calendar)
4. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Calculating the PTE taxable income, the PTET, and the credit. https://www.tax.ny.gov/e-services/ptet/calculations.htm
5. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, TSB-M-22(1)C, (1)I, New York City Pass-Through Entity Tax. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/memos/ptet/m22-1c-1i.pdf
6. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, New York City pass-through entity tax (NYC PTET). https://www.tax.ny.gov/bus/ptet/city.htm
7. IRS Notice 2020-75. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-75.pdf
8. IRS, Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) (2025). https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sca
9. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Publication 750, A Guide to Sales Tax in New York State. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/sales/pub750.pdf
10. US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, state file. https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/cbp/2023-cbp.html and https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/cbp23st.zip
11. New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions, Initial License for Certified Public Accountants, 120 semester hours and 2 years of acceptable experience. https://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/initial1202year
12. New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA). https://www.nysscpa.org/