This site is an independent reference. We do not prepare returns, we do not file on your behalf, we have no access to your New York State Department of Taxation and Finance account, and we do not introduce anyone to a preparer. Everything below is published information and links to the Department’s own tools.
You probably do not need anyone
Most people reading this do not. If you have one location, straightforward sales and nothing overdue, filing it yourself through Sales Tax Web File is free and usually takes about ten minutes. Quarterly returns are due 20 days after the quarter ends — the next one is Monday, December 21, 2026. Our due dates page has the full schedule.
It is worth asking someone when any of this is true:
- You're behind, or you've had a notice or a bill you don't understand.
- You collect across several jurisdictions and the rates aren't obvious.
- Exemption certificates are involved and you're not sure they're right.
- You're registering, closing, or your filing frequency just changed.
- The amount at stake is large enough that a mistake costs more than the fee.
How to find someone, and how to check them
We do not make introductions and we take no fee from anyone, so the honest answer is the same one the Department gives: find a preparer the ordinary way, then check them before you hand over anything.
New York runs a public register. Search it at Verify your tax return preparer before you engage anybody.
CPAs, attorneys and enrolled agents are exempt from registering, so they do not appear in it. The Department says so itself, and it also says plainly that registration is not a statement about competence — it vouches for nobody. Treat a hit as one box ticked, not as a recommendation.
One check anyone can make, on the return itself
Form ST-100 has a paid preparer block, and the instructions are explicit: a paid preparer must sign it and must enter either a New York tax preparer registration number (NYTPRIN) or a two-digit exclusion code saying why they do not need one. The instructions warn that preparers who leave it incomplete may face civil or criminal sanctions.
So before the return goes in, look at that block. A blank one on a return somebody charged you to prepare is the clearest signal you will get, and it costs nothing to look.
Note also that you still sign as the taxpayer — for a business, an officer, employee or partner has to. Nobody can file a New York sales tax return purely in your place.
Know what you are entitled to
New York publishes a Consumer Bill of Rights Regarding Tax Preparers, which a preparer is required to give you. It is short, it is free, and it is written for the person paying rather than the person charging. Read it before the engagement rather than after the dispute.
We are not CPAs or tax professionals
Nobody who publishes this site is a certified public accountant, an enrolled agent, a tax attorney or a tax preparer, and this is not a professional service. We do not prepare New York sales tax returns, we do not file them, and we do not advise anyone on them. Everything on this site is general information taken from published government sources.
We do not refer anyone to anyone, and we are paid nothing by any preparer. The links above go to the Tax Department’s own register and its own Consumer Bill of Rights. Any preparer you find is an independent business — not our employee, not our agent, not supervised by us and not recommended by us. Their advice, their fees and their work are theirs, whatever you agree is between you and them, and we are not a party to it. We do not warrant anyone’s credentials, availability or results.
Nothing on this page is tax, legal, accounting or financial advice, and reading it creates no professional relationship of any kind.