The first tax levied in the United States was from the Stamp Act in 1765. The Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. Basically any piece of paper was tax such as documents, ship’s papers, licenses, newspapers, publications and even playing cards were taxed. Great Britain enacted the tax to help with the costs of their maintaining a military presence protecting the American Colonies. Great Britain continued to levy more taxes. Common products imported into the Ame

Congratulations to Gantenbein Law Firm Denver, Colorado attorney Keith Gantenbein Jr. who was again, recognized as Super Lawyers, Rising Stars for 2018. For Keith, this is his fourth consecutive year as a Super Lawyer, Rising Star. Mr. Gantenbein is nationally recognized for his work in Real Estate Law, which also includes Foreclosures Defense and HOA Law. Mr. Gantenbein worked extensively last few years with the Colorado Supreme Court to pass updated Rules of Civil Procedure

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a warning for a quickly growing scam involving taxpayers. An original alert was issued February 2, however the number of victims jumped from a few hundred to several thousands in just a couple of days. The IRS Criminal Investigation division is investigating just how deep and far-reaching this scheme is. The new scam is actually just a new twist on a scam they’ve used before. These criminals have stolen client data from email phis

Nothing chills our veins like a letter from the IRS. Especially when you open the letter and find you’re under an IRS Audit or under an IRS Investigation. After you get over the shock - think twice before you even think of calling them. What you say to the IRS and what documents you provide can and most likely will be held against you. Most people think if they cooperate with the IRS, answer all their questions and give the IRS everything they ask, they’ll be treated better.

On December 8, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made changes to its authentication system. This is the system that verifies tax returns that mortgage applicants provide. The system is known as the Income Verification Express System (IVES) and is in place to make sure tax returns aren’t fraudulent. Within five days of the changes, on December 13, mortgage groups were finding problems with the new system. Other groups said problems with the changes began almost immediat

Gantenbein Law Firm, Denver, Colorado is proud to announce its attorney, Keith Gantenbein, was named to 2017 Colorado Super Lawyers, Rising Stars list. Congratulations to owner and managing attorney Keith A. Gantenbein Jr, who was selected, named and included on the “2017 Colorado Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list. Super Lawyers is the Thomson Reuters lawyer rating service. To be selected as a Super Lawyer, attorneys are nominated by their peers and evaluated on 12 indicators

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, announced last week that it’s selling off non-performing loans to private investors. Freddie Mac is a public government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) headquartered in Virginia. Freddie Mac was created in 1970 to help expand the mortgage market alongside the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). Previously, from 1938 to 1968 Fannie Mae was the only institution that bought mortgages leading to and enco

Hundreds of Americans are getting frightening calls from “IRS Agents” making threats including sending the sheriff over to arrest them if they don’t pay back taxes immediately. The first 8 months of this year there has been a 400% surge in these phony calls and text messages. These calls are alarming due to the fact the so-called “IRS Agent” have personal information including their correct social security number, where the person lives, where they used to live, their maiden

Our own IRS isn’t the only entity to fear when it comes to taxes. Europe has their eye on international businesses as well as wanting their ‘fare share’ of the profits. The French have widened their investigations and are cracking down on these international businesses concluding a nearly 3-year investigation and auditing of Priceline’s Booking.com The French tax authorities operate in a big way - with exactly $397.37 million in unpaid taxes slapped against Booking.com. The m

The number of luxury homes sitting on the global market and not selling is beginning to pile up. It may also be a forewarning of the beginning of another housing bubble getting ready to burst. The last time there was a rise in luxury homes not selling was in 2007 and 2008 - right before the housing crash. Analysts and brokers are warning of another housing bubble due to the high number of luxury homes not selling that they think is a sure ‘bubble signal’. The housing market

Millions of Americans have had horrible and challenging years due to the Great Financial Crisis and subsequent meltdown. Many are just now beginning to recover from earlier job losses, health issues, mounting debt and even loss of their homes through foreclosure, deed-in-lieu or short sale. Just as they’re climbing out of the hole they receive a dreaded IRS Form 1099-C or related statement detailing the discharge of indebtedness as miscellaneous income. What does this mean? I

​Back in the day - when the predatory mortgage loans were being tossed out like candy, so were the student loans. It was easy to get a student loan and only took a few minutes. School employees quickly entered information into a computer, twirled the computer around and said ‘here-press enter’. Just like that you had a loan, there was no need to even sign anything. Problem was, nothing was explained and you had no idea about interest, rates or the pitfalls. The school said th

We receive calls almost daily from homeowners who are having a dispute with their Homeowners’ Association and need help fighting these special groups. In Colorado alone, we have over one million residents who live under the rules and laws of an HOA. The common thread we hear is the HOA elected a new board, someone on the board doesn’t like the homeowner, the HOA became power-hungry or a particular neighbor keeps complaining. Many HOAs believe they have absolute authority and

Nationstar Mortgage will be providing up to $30 million dollars to distressed Milwaukee homeowners under a special agreement with the city. In a move worthy of Washington politics, the majority owner of Fortress Investments, which owns Nationstar, is also the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. There have been months of negotiations, bad media press and upcoming hearings on how the city will finance a proposed $500 million Bucks arena. Analysts say the two are definitely related

In an effort to create more business, one of America’s top tax preparation firms, H&R Block, along with TurboTax’s Intuit Company, argue and spend big bucks lobbying on Capital Hill to NOT make taxes simpler. Thinking only of how much profit they can stuff into their pockets, they prey on the poorest of taxpayers. H&R Block’s latest and most deplorable effort involves their initiating and pushing the Senate Appropriations Committee to pass a funding bill to make the Earned In

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has declared mortgage fraud as a growing crime threat that is hurting homeowners, businesses and our national economy. The FBI has enacted ways to detect mortgage fraud by collecting and analyzing data. They’ll use this data to identify trends and patterns. Unfortunately, by the time they discover those trends or patterns, damage has already been done. What exactly is mortgage fraud? Mortgage fraud is a misstatement, misrepresentation

Congratulations Denver, Colorado - you were just named America’s top city for business and careers! Forbes magazine declared Denver as number 1 in the U.S. for economic success, Fort Collins made the cut by being the Number 10. More than 200 cities were in the running. There are approximately 2.8 million people living in and around Denver. The area is most attractive for its diverse economy, outdoor activities and a highly educated labor force. Each year more companies are ch

Gantenbein Law Firm is pleased to announce that two of its Denver IRS tax lawyers, Tyler Murray and Michelle McCarthy, were the featured authors this month in the Colorado Tax Bar Association monthly newsletter. The article, The Supreme Court Weighs in on Colorado’s Attempt to Circumvent Quill in Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl, discussed a recent Supreme Court decision that affects whether the Tax Injunction Act barred federal courts from enjoining Colorado’s efforts

Buyer’s remorse: a sense of regret after making a purchase, usually associated with a large-ticket item such as a home or a car. Most of us have experienced Buyer’s Remorse at some point in our lives. We buy something expensive, then ask ourselves whether we were pushed into buying? Would we have found a better deal somewhere else? Some of us just feel guilty spending so much. Whatever the case of regret, and you decide you don’t want the item, “Can you back out of this cont

Nothing in the world can stop us in our tracks faster than getting a notice from the IRS with the word “AUDIT” written on it. This may be the one time in your life, you should be happy if you’re not making that much money. If you make between $25,000 and $50,000 a year, there is a .73% you’ll be audited, $50,000-$75,000 it’s .83%. Oddly, people who make between $0 and $25,000 have a higher rate of audit at 3.42%. The reasoning behind that: most people who make less than $25,0