Accountants in Montauk

Fishing is a genuine specialty and almost nothing written for general small business applies cleanly to it. Crew share arrangements raise the question of whether crew are employees or self employed, and getting it wrong is expensive on both sides. Vessels are depreciated over their own schedules, and the line between capitalizing an engine rebuild and expensing a repair is where most of the money sits. Fuel, bait, ice, dockage and offload costs all behave differently.

The two that general preparers miss: income that swings hard from year to year, which brings net operating losses and volatile estimated payments into play rather than a steady quarterly rhythm; and permits and quota, which are intangible assets with their own acquisition, amortization and disposal treatment. A fishing right is not gear.

Charter and party boat operators have a different problem again: a season rather than a year, Coast Guard licensing costs, passenger vessel insurance and deposit timing. The motels and restaurants bring seasonal payroll, tip reporting and the FICA tip credit, and occupancy tax questions that are worth confirming with Suffolk County directly rather than assuming.

On rentals, Town of East Hampton rules apply: lettings under two weeks up to twice in six months, with a registry number required in advertisements and penalties from $3,000 to $15,000 for failing to register. The 2.5% Peconic transfer tax applies with the $400,000 improved residential allowance capped at $2,000,000 of consideration.

Zone 2 for MCTMT at 0.34%, and the self employment threshold rising from $50,000 to $150,000 for 2026 takes a good number of Montauk’s self employed fishermen and tradespeople out of that tax entirely this year.