What it is. Tax preparation, planning, and representation led by a CPA licensed in New Jersey and New York, with the person signing your return accountable for it.
Who it is for. Jersey City businesses and individuals whose returns have real decisions in them, who have received a notice, or who have income in both New Jersey and New York.
Why the dual license matters. The most common Jersey City tax problem crosses a state line. A resident with New York income files in both states, and getting the allocation and the credit right requires being licensed and accountable on both sides.
A CPA is a specific credential with legal meaning: a state license that requires education, examination, experience, and continuing education, carries professional accountability, and grants unlimited rights to represent a taxpayer before the IRS. Corviniti provides CPA-led tax and accounting to Jersey City businesses and their owners, so the person planning and signing your return is licensed and accountable for it.
For Jersey City that matters in a specific way. Ro Sokhi is licensed in both New Jersey and New York, and the defining local tax problem crosses the Hudson: there is no reciprocity between the two states, a Jersey City resident with New York income files a return in each, and New York's convenience of the employer rule decides how much of a hybrid schedule New York gets to tax. Handling that well means being licensed, and answerable, on both sides of the river. What a licensed CPA does for a Jersey City business and household is below.
Ro is licensed in New York and New Jersey, so a return with income on both sides of the river is handled by the same person. Our New York headquarters, Corviniti Accounting in New York City, is across the Hudson.
Credentials
Tax credentials compared: who can do what
CPA, enrolled agent, attorney, and unenrolled preparer. What each credential requires, who can represent you, and what the difference means when a return has real decisions in it.
Credentials compared. Verify any license before engaging.
Cross-border
Living in Jersey City and working in New York
The defining Jersey City tax problem. No reciprocity between the states, two returns in a specific order, and New York's convenience of the employer rule deciding how much of a hybrid schedule it claims.
The cross-border sequence. Facts drive the answer.
Business taxes
The New Jersey taxes behind a business return
What a licensed CPA is signing on a New Jersey business return: the Corporation Business Tax tiers, the minimum tax owed even at a loss, the BAIT, and the per-owner partnership fee.
New Jersey business taxes. Current law; illustrative, not tax advice.
This is for you if
You received an IRS, New Jersey, or New York notice or audit letter and do not want to face it alone.
New York is taxing days you worked from home in Jersey City and you want that position defended.
You want the person who signs your return to be licensed in both states and accountable for it.
You have income on both sides of the Hudson and no one has handled the allocation deliberately.
What you get
A licensed CPA on the work Planning and returns by a CPA who is accountable for them and can represent you before the IRS.
Representation on three fronts Notices and audits handled before the IRS, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and New York State.
Cross-border positions defended The allocation between New Jersey and New York documented, and defended if either state questions it.
A straight answer on assurance If you truly need a reviewed or compiled statement, we say so and help you engage a registered firm.
How We Help
What you get
Tax and representation led by a CPA licensed in New Jersey and New York, with the assurance boundary drawn honestly up front.
A licensed CPA on the workPlanning and returns by a CPA who is accountable for them and can represent you before the IRS.
Representation on three frontsNotices and audits handled before the IRS, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and New York State.
Cross-border positions defendedThe allocation between New Jersey and New York documented, and defended if either state questions it.
A straight answer on assuranceIf you truly need a reviewed or compiled statement, we say so and help you engage a registered firm.
When companies bring us in
You received an IRS, New Jersey, or New York notice or audit letter and do not want to face it alone.
New York is taxing days you worked from home in Jersey City and you want that position defended.
You want the person who signs your return to be licensed in both states and accountable for it.
You have income on both sides of the Hudson and no one has handled the allocation deliberately.
The Detail
The gaps, and how we close each one
Topic 01
What a CPA does that a seasonal preparer cannot
Anyone can hang a shingle at tax time. The question is who is licensed and accountable when the return has real decisions in it or an agency comes back with questions.
What it means for you
A CPA holds a state license with education, examination, experience, and continuing-education requirements, is professionally accountable for the work, and has unlimited rights to represent you before the IRS. An unenrolled preparer can type a return; they cannot fully stand between you and the agency when questions come. For a simple return the difference may not matter. When there are real decisions, a cross-border allocation, or a notice, it does. You can verify a New Jersey license through the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs license verification, and we encourage checking before engaging anyone.
What you get: A licensed CPA who signs the return and can represent you before the IRS.
Topic 02
New Jersey and New York returns, handled on both sides
This is the reason most Jersey City households need a CPA and not software. Income earned across the river changes the filing, and getting it wrong is expensive in both directions.
What it means for you
New Jersey and New York have no reciprocity agreement; New Jersey's only reciprocal state is Pennsylvania. A Jersey City resident with New York wages files a New York non-resident return, then a New Jersey resident return reporting all income and claiming the credit for tax paid to another jurisdiction. Done in that order with the right allocation, the net result is roughly the higher of the two states rather than both stacked. The complication is New York's convenience of the employer rule: a remote workday stays New York source unless the work by its nature had to be done outside New York or the home office qualifies under New York's bona fide employer office test, which few home offices do. A hybrid schedule therefore needs the days and the working arrangement documented. New Jersey enacted its own version of the rule in P.L. 2023 c.125 for non-residents working for New Jersey employers, and the same law created a refundable New Jersey credit, equal to half the additional New Jersey tax that results, for residents who win a final judgment against another state's convenience rule, for tax years 2020 through 2023. In practice New York has kept winning those challenges, the Zelinsky decision affirmed its rule again in 2025, so the honest advice is to plan the allocation rather than count on overturning it. We prepare both returns, allocate deliberately, and defend the position if either state questions it.
What you get: New Jersey and New York returns prepared and defended on both sides.
Facing an IRS, New Jersey, or New York notice? Talk to a CPA licensed in both states before you respond.
Representation before the IRS, New Jersey, and New York
A tax notice or audit letter is a deadline with consequences, and a Jersey City filer can hear from three different agencies.
What it means for you
As a licensed CPA, Ro represents taxpayers before the IRS, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: reading the notice, responding on the record, and dealing with the examiner directly. The matters we see most in this market are New Jersey sales tax examinations, which for restaurants and the trades depend on records and certificates; residency and allocation questions for people who moved between New Jersey and New York or work hybrid schedules; and New York assessments against Jersey City residents under the convenience rule. Preparation for all of them starts with the clean, reconciled records we keep, which is what turns an examination from a crisis into a document request.
What you get: Direct representation before the IRS, New Jersey, and New York.
Topic 04
Business and personal tax, planned across the year
Tax preparation and tax planning are stronger when the person doing them is licensed, current on the rules, and accountable for the positions taken. For Jersey City owners the business and personal returns are one connected problem.
What it means for you
We prepare and plan both sides: the business returns, the New Jersey elections and filings that shape them, and the owners' personal returns, all from reconciled books. Planning happens across the year, so the decisions that only work in advance actually get made in advance: the BAIT election modeled per owner before its March 15 date, reasonable compensation set at a defensible number, the New Jersey minimum tax planned into the estimates so a soft year is not a surprise, and the cross-border allocation reviewed before December rather than in April. Our business tax page covers the entity returns in depth and our personal tax page the individual side; here they are handled together, by the same licensed CPA.
What you get: Business and personal tax planned together across the year, by the same CPA.
Topic 05
Where a CPA matters most for Jersey City businesses
Some situations in this market specifically call for a licensed CPA and not a seasonal storefront, because of who is on the other side of the table.
What it means for you
The clearest cases we see: cross-border households and owners, where a New York assessment or a disallowed New Jersey credit depends on allocation and documentation; New Jersey sales tax examinations, where restaurants, contractors, and retailers face a records-driven review and personal exposure for trust-fund money the business collected; Urban Enterprise Zone retailers, whose certification and half-rate reporting have to hold up on review; financial services consultancies and advisory firms around Exchange Place, where revenue timing, contractor classification, and partner compensation all need defensible treatment; medical, dental, and professional practices, with buy-ins and owner compensation that must survive scrutiny; and real estate owners and developers working through Journal Square and Newport, where depreciation, cost segregation, 1031 positions, and the graduated realty transfer fee all carry real dollars. In each, the value is a licensed professional who is accountable for the answer and can stand between you and the agency.
What you get: Judgment on the positions this market actually gets examined on.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a CPA and a tax preparer?
A CPA holds a state license with education, examination, experience, and continuing-education requirements, is professionally accountable for the work, and has unlimited rights to represent you before the IRS. An unenrolled preparer can type a return; they cannot fully stand between you and the agency when questions come. For a simple return the difference may not matter. When there are real decisions or real notices, it does.
Are you licensed in New Jersey or New York?
Both. Ro Sokhi holds CPA licenses in New Jersey and New York, which is the combination a Jersey City filer with New York income actually needs, since the cross-border return has to be right on both sides and either state may question it.
The IRS, New Jersey, or New York sent us a notice. Can you handle it?
Yes. As a licensed CPA, Ro represents taxpayers before all three: the IRS, the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. New Jersey sales tax examinations and New York assessments against Jersey City residents under the convenience of the employer rule are the most common here, and the preparation for both starts with the clean records we keep.
I live in Jersey City and work in Manhattan. Which state do I pay?
Both, in a specific order, and then one credit reconciles them. You file a New York non-resident return on your New York source income and a New Jersey resident return on everything, claiming the New Jersey credit for tax paid to New York. The net effect is roughly the higher of the two states, not both, and New York City's own income tax does not apply to you at all, since it reaches only city residents. How many of your work-from-home days New York can claim depends on the convenience of the employer rule, which is where the planning is.
Do you work with contractors and the trades?
Yes, as a licensed CPA. Past the return, that means representation if New Jersey examines your sales tax, which for the trades usually depends on the Form ST-8 capital-improvement certificates and worker classification, employee versus 1099. We plan the entity and elections during the year and deal with the Division of Taxation directly if a notice comes.
Do you work with medical and dental practices?
Yes, as a licensed CPA. We plan the entity, compensation, and retirement structure that lowers the tax on a high-income practice, sign the returns, and represent the practice if the IRS or New Jersey questions owner compensation or the filing.
Do you work with restaurants and bars?
Yes, as a licensed CPA. Restaurants draw sales tax examinations more than most businesses, and the exam depends on tying point of sale records to the returns and the deposits. We keep the records that answer it, represent you if the state opens one, and claim the FICA tip credit on the return.
Do you work with e-commerce and retail sellers?
Yes, as a licensed CPA. The exposure for online sellers is multistate sales tax nexus and the marketplace facilitator rules, which generate most of the notices. We plan the nexus footprint, file the returns correctly, and represent you on state notices.
Do you work with law firms and professional services?
Yes, as a licensed CPA. That covers the trust-accounting discipline bar regulators expect, the BAIT planning that is often a partner group's biggest lever, and representation before the IRS or New Jersey if a return is questioned.
Do you work with commuters and cross-border households?
Yes, and in Jersey City it is the most common representation issue we see. A resident with New York wages files in both states, and New York's convenience of the employer rule decides how many remote days it claims. When New York assesses or New Jersey questions the credit for tax paid to another jurisdiction, both sides have to be defended, which is why the dual New York and New Jersey license matters here.
Is Corviniti a CPA firm?
No. Corviniti is an accounting and tax company led by a CPA licensed in New Jersey and New York, not a public accounting firm registered with the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy. Accordingly, we do not perform audits, reviews, or compilations of financial statements, the engagements a registered firm performs under professional standards (audits under the auditing standards, and reviews and compilations under the SSARS, the Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services). New Jersey reserves attest practice, and the use of the “CPA firm” title, for registered firms subject to peer review. Tax preparation, planning, representation, and accounting do not require firm registration, and that is the work we do.
This page summarizes New Jersey and, where it applies, New York tax rules for general information, and is not tax advice for your situation. Rates and thresholds change; confirm the current figures with the authority before you rely on them.
