IAM2172 – Founder Helps Individuals and Businesses Facing IRS and New York State Tax Problems

In this episode, we have Karen Tenenbaum, recognized as a leading tax firm for 35 years, Karen founded Tenenbaum Law, P.C., which helps individuals and businesses facing IRS and New York State tax problems. Aside from practicing tax law, Karen is also the co-founder of Commerce Plaza, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to introducing children to the business community through a simulated work environment.

Karen provides resources for individuals to handle tax problems themselves, but also offers full representation and negotiation services.

Karen highlights the importance of having a clear vision and a great team to implement it.

Website: Tenenbaum Law, P.C.
LinkedIn: Karen Tenenbaum
Facebook: Tenenbaum Law, P.C.

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Karen Tenenbaum Teaser 00:00

If you owe New York State more than or equal to $10,000 in taxes, interest and penalties, they could take away your driver's license. And if you owe more than $51,000 to the IRS, they could take away your passport. And there are so many tools that are available to help you if you owe this kind of money.

Intro 00:20

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview. If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:45

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Karen Tenenbaum of Tenenbaum Law, P.C. Karen, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Karen Tenenbaum 00:55

Oh, it's great to be on the show. Thank you so much.

Gresham Harkless 00:58

No problem. No problem. What I want to do is just read a little bit more about Karen so you hear about all the awesome things that she's doing and Karen is recognized as a or Karen's law firm is actually recognized as a leading tech firm for 35 years. Karen founded Tenenbaum Law P.C., which helps individuals and businesses facing IRS and New York State tax problems. Aside from practicing law, Karen is also the co-founder of Commerce Plaza Incorporated, a nonprofit organization dedicated to introducing children to the business community through a simulated work environment. Karen, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Karen Tenenbaum 01:11

I am.

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Gresham Harkless 01:14

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So the first question I had was just to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Karen Tenenbaum 01:38

So I grew up with in a family business. So my father had a family business and my 2 brothers work in it. And we always sat around the dinner table talking about small businesses. And so it was always my dream to get involved and help small businesses and individuals, whether it be from an attorney and an accountant. So whether it be from the accounting side or the legal side, that was always my dream. And now I help people with tax problems so that they can live a better life and sleep at night.

Gresham Harkless 02:05

That makes perfect sense because sleeping is always important. And I know as being an entrepreneur and business owners, always so many different things that are going on. So it's great that you're providing services and grew up in that environment. But now you're kind of helping out people that are going through probably not the greatest situations all the time.

Karen Tenenbaum 02:18

And the truth is I am an entrepreneur at heart. I always wanted the challenge of having my own business. And I think that you have more control over your destiny and your schedule and your life.

Gresham Harkless 02:30

Yeah, I would definitely agree with that. And I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper and hear how you're helping out these entrepreneurs and business owners. Could you tell us a little bit more about what you're doing and what's happening by and by?

Karen Tenenbaum 02:39

Sure. So again, we handle IRS and New York State tax problems. So I don't know if anyone, if everyone knows this, but if you owe New York State more than or equal to $10,000 in taxes, interest and penalties, they could take away your driver's license. And if you owe more than 51,000 to the IRS, they can take away your passport. And There are so many tools that are available to help you if you owe this kind of money. One of my growth opportunities and what we're working on right now is to create a link from our website for the next generation of people who like to do it themselves, self-service. We could go on our website and get links to all the tools that the IRS has. So if you owe $100,000 or less to the IRS, you could get into an installment agreement over 7 years, 84 months.

And if you owe $20,000 or less to New York State, you could get into an installment payment agreement for 36 months, 3 years. And so these are things you don't even have to speak to an individual. You might even have to, you probably give less financial disclosure than you normally would with amounts over those cited. And you can, again, be up at 2 in the morning worried about this tax problem and not even have to speak to a tax attorney or your account. Of course if you do have problems and you're unable to solve them on your own we are available to help you either on an hourly basis or on a project basis. And we take care of the whole problem from beginning to end. So if you're being audited, we represent a lot of restaurants that have sales tax audits. So if you're being audited and you don't wanna be involved, you can hand off the quote problem to us and we could represent you. We're at litaxattorney.com.

Gresham Harkless 04:19

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. I think when people are going through so many different things and as we spoke about, I spoke about a little bit offline is that some people just are kind of more to do it yourselves and they want to know about all the resources. And sometimes people want to call and talk with somebody. So it's great that you're kind of, I guess, helping people out from both sides. Is that correct?

Karen Tenenbaum 04:37

Yes. And so we also do, as I'm saying, full representation. So we represent a lot of business owners, small business owners. Business goes up and down and you can't always anticipate that you're going to have a slow period. And so we step in and help and again, negotiate with the IRS or New York State if you owe money. So we handle a lot of collection matters. So the IRS or New York State has decided perhaps that you owe something, either you've been audited or you just filed a return and couldn't pay.

And so we step in, perhaps get rid of the penalties or perhaps you're a non-filer. We could deal with the voluntary disclosure on New York State's level, where you have a limited look back period for filing and you avoid criminal exposure and you don't have any penalties. So we could step in and we have a lot of knowledge and experience where the layman might not even know that there's this opportunity, that there might be a first-time penalty abatement on the IRS level.

So They don't realize that they have this penalty that they could get rid of just by asking for it. So again, there are a lot of things that the layman might not know. And we handle a number of, as I said, business owners who may have more than one home. So we do a lot of residency audits in New York State. So let's say you're a snowbird, perhaps. You live in Florida a little half the year and you live in New York half the year, or you live in New Jersey and Connecticut and you commute to Manhattan on a regular basis, or you have a house out in the Hamptons, New York State may come in and say, you owe taxes to New York State, you might owe tax on 100% of your income for wherever it's derived.

So I'm not saying you owe 100% tax, you owe tax on all of your income wherever it is derived. And so New York State may come in and say, we really think you live in New York State and you say, no, no, no, I really live elsewhere. Well, sometimes you have the burden of proof by clearing convincing evidence and that's a tough burden. And so these audits take up a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of energy and you need the proper representative in order to be successful.

Gresham Harkless 06:32

That makes perfect sense.

Karen Tenenbaum 06:33

New York State is very aggressive. Yeah, New York State is very aggressive on these audits. But again, we're here, Tenenbaum Law at litaxattorney.com.

Gresham Harkless 06:41

Awesome, awesome, awesome. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this is something that you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart. You or your organization apart.

Karen Tenenbaum 06:49

Yeah. So again, so I'm an attorney. I'm a CPA. I have an LLM in tax from NYU and we have many years of experience. A lot of we've done, handled so many matters over so many years, and we're very good at negotiating a resolution that saves significant time and effort and energy. And because I have the accounting background, I've worked in large accounting firms, I've worked in large law firms, you get to see things from different perspectives. So one thing that I think is very unique about us is that when not just lawyers, a lot of us are accountants or have these, the master of laws, the LLM and tax. And so we know how to read financial statements. We know how to read the tax returns. We've been on both sides. And so you get, again, you get a different perspective.

Gresham Harkless 07:35

Exactly.

Karen Tenenbaum 07:35

And also we have an amazing team. We're really, a lot of the people on the team are so empathetic and compassionate. They hold your hand through the whole thing because it is an emotional thing. You don't just come to us because you have a quote legal problem. Usually there's something going on behind the scenes. You're about to get remarried or there's some other pressure that's going on in your life that's causing you to fix this problem because often it's been lingering around. It's not the kind of thing you want to always face.

A lot of people come to us, they didn't even open up the mail from the IRS or New York State. They were worried, why are they getting these letters? And so sometimes it's the it's the hand holding that you need as well, not just the years of experience to get a good resolution.

Gresham Harkless 08:15

Yeah, and I thought all possible is great to get both as you guys are providing there. So I appreciate you for sharing that with us. And what I want to do is switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be a habit, a book or even an app that you might use that makes you more effective and efficient as a CEO.

Karen Tenenbaum 08:30

Yes. Well, I have to say I have been the lucky recipient of a number of entrepreneur programs. So I don't know how many people have heard of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses program. It's the most unbelievable thing. And that in connection with American Express and an organization called Count Me In had a program called Make Mine a Million. I think the statistics are that only something like 2 to 3% of women, revenues of a million dollars or more in the country. And American Express and count me in, make mine a million, had a pitch competition a number of years ago. I don't know if they're still doing it.

And I was one of the pitch winners. And what I ended up winning was with a number of other women, a coach, a private coach. I shouldn't say private. It was 10 women on the telephone through PeopleBiz in Texas. Alicia Marie, I'm giving a shout out to Alicia Marie, and she wrote the Business Accelerator Program and it's actually similar in a way to the Goldman Sachs program, which is available to businesses that have, I believe, 4 or more employees and have less than something like 1.5 million or less than 4 million of revenue, something like that. I'm not sure of the exact numbers. I think less than 4 million in revenues.

And what they do, the Golden Tax Program, has a similar business accelerator program where they teach you about you the leader, the people, the marketing and sales, the key performance indicators, the processes and procedures, and you go through an entire program of 10 weeks where you physically, I went to LaGuardia Community College every Friday or every other Friday, and they go through each and every aspect of your business. At the end, you know about the marketing side, the financial side, the administrative side, how to get an amazing customer experience, how to produce, not produce your product, but do it in a way that's special so that the clients are very happy with you at the end.

And I would highly recommend these programs, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program and PeopleBiz coaching, which I'm sure is available if you wanted to pay. I was lucky enough to be the recipient for free of both of these programs. The people biz program was a 20 week program where 10 women called into a call in line and we had a coach on the phone and every week you had to do a prep form in advance, homework the night before, analyzing what was good that week, what was bad that week, and looking at specific goals that you had. You had to set goals in advance and now compare how you're doing on those. What were you able to get to? What were you not able to get to? And it was the preparation before the call that was very important. And then each week we focused on a different topic.

Again, things like the marketing, the sales, the key performance indicators, how you are as a leader, what all about your team, HR issues. And that's invaluable to have a community that you can chat with. And it's the same with Goldman Sachs. I'm part of their alumni community. We recently had a summit in Washington, D.C. Where Lauren Buffett is on the advisory board. He was there speaking. Michael Bloomberg was there. Sarah Blakely, who owns Spanx. All the billionaires were there. Richard Branson from Virgin. So many amazing speakers. And we're part of this unbelievable community, like-minded people, other business owners who have the same challenges that you have.

And it's unbelievable when you all get together in a room and discuss some of these issues, you see that every business is similar, whether it's a legal business or a non-legal business. We all have similar concerns and you need support. Business goes up and down, you all have similar challenges and you have to figure out what your vision is, what your growth opportunity is and how you're going to implement it. And that was one amazing thing about Goldman Sachs is that they gave you homework every time, every week and it was to analyze a different aspect of your business and write a growth plan.

You know, how are you going to grow this business? And I, it was the most unbelievable, great experience, greatest experience that I've had. So that was definitely one of the things that's in my back pocket that I would like to promote. Everyone should look into the Goldman Sachs program. It's given all around the country for free. Goldman Sachs funds the whole thing.

Gresham Harkless 12:35

Nice, well I appreciate you for sharing that with us and definitely belated congratulations on being selected for that. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can jump into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Karen Tenenbaum 12:49

Oh, absolutely. So first, I think that you have to get, have a vision. And I think you have to get a team together that you have to clearly express your vision and get a team together that believes in your vision. And I think you have to play to everyone's strength. You have to know who your target audience is, know what your message is, and be ready to share it.

Gresham Harkless 13:10

There you go. That makes perfect sense. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition for what it means to be a CEO. So what does being a CEO mean to you?

Karen Tenenbaum 13:19

So I go back to that, to what I just said, which is have a clear vision, put together a great team that can help you implement it, come up with processes and procedures to help you carry it out and come up with key performance indicators that you're going to track and measure on a regular basis to see if you're on track and to be the leader of that.

Gresham Harkless 13:35

Nice, nice. Well, Karen, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then also how best people can get a hold of you.

Karen Tenenbaum 13:47

Absolutely. So first I think success means having clarity and consistency. And I'd like to quote Mario Cuomo, who said there are 2 rules for being successful, one figure out exactly what you want to do and two to do it. I also want to quote Nell Merlino who started the Count Me In and also the Take Your Daughters to Work Day years ago. She said, you can have it all, you just can't do it all yourself. You need a great team. And I really believe that. How you could get in touch with me? So my name is Karen Tenenbaum and we're at litaxattorney.com and the number here is 631-465-5000 and we're in Melville, New York. So you could reach me at ktenenbaum@litaxattorney.com. That's ktenenbaum@litaxattorney.com. I'll spell it. K, T as in Tom, E, N as in Nancy, E, N again as in Nancy, B as in boy, AUM as in Mary at litaxattorney.com.

Gresham Harkless 14:47

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, I appreciate you so much again, Karen, and we'll have those links in the show notes and that information, but I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Karen Tenenbaum 14:54

Thank you so much. It was great to talk to you, Gresh.

Outro 14:56

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by CBNation and Blue16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a 5-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

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