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The Tiny Home Real Estate Movement

Keith Gantenbein

Aug 15, 2016

The Tiny Home Real Estate Movement

About two years ago “tiny houses” began an upward trend in new sales of homes in what has become the Tiny House Movement. Even the most traditional builders are jumping on the bandwagon and building their own selection of tiny homes. America’s love affair with tiny homes is contrary to a nation whose homes average 2,200 to 2,600 square feet. What is the obsession with these tiny homes and what are they? A tiny home typically ranges from 100 to 400 square feet. By definition a

Co-Owning Real Estate With A Partner Or A Friend

Keith Gantenbein

Jul 26, 2016

Co-Owning Real Estate With A Partner Or A Friend

If you’re thinking of buying (co-owning) a home with a partner, if you’re an unmarried couple or just friends, it’s extremely important to protect yourself if there were a death, a parting or foreclosure. The decision you make in co-owning any property can have disastrous repercussions and consequences. Approximately 25% of primary homebuyers in the US are single. Generally speaking, non-married buyers have very little or no estate-planning protection at either the state or f

How Brexit Might Affect The U.S. Real Estate Market

Keith Gantenbein

Jul 6, 2016

How Brexit Might Affect The U.S. Real Estate Market

By now, most of us have heard something about Brexit (British Exit). In a sentence, Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) in a historic referendum June 23. The effects of Brexit are being heard around the world. Britain has the world’s fifth-largest economy and is one of the United State’s biggest trading partners. After the vote, Britain’s pound dropped to a 30-year low prompting Americans to change vacation plans to visit Britain and take advantage of the low price

International Businesses- At Risk? French Tax Authorities Go After Major Businesses

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 23, 2016

International Businesses- At Risk? French Tax Authorities Go After Major Businesses

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

Signs The Real Estate Bubble Is About To Burst- Again

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 13, 2016

Signs The Real Estate Bubble Is About To Burst- Again

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

Tax Tips For Starting Your Own Business

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 6, 2016

Tax Tips For Starting Your Own Business

If you’re starting a new business, the tax obligations aren’t something you should try to handle alone. Meeting with a qualified tax and business attorney can save you thousands of dollars and ensure your business is starting out on the right foot. When it comes to taxes, there’s no room for error. An audit, additional taxes, penalties and fees can become a nightmare if you make one error, or grab the attention of the IRS. The first day your business is up and running, your b

Mortgage Foreclosure and Survivors' Rights

Keith Gantenbein

May 31, 2016

Mortgage Foreclosure and Survivors' Rights

California is a step closer to signing a bill into law to protect families from foreclosure after the death of the primary mortgage note holder. The Bill is known as the “Survivor Bill of Rights”. Other states may soon follow in passing similar laws. When a spouse dies, often the surviving spouse can’t afford the mortgage payment. The survivor usually calls the lender to let them know the spouse has died. When the survivor tries for a loan modification due to loss of income,

Timeshare Horror Stories

Keith Gantenbein

May 18, 2016

Timeshare Horror Stories

Timeshares came into being during the early 1960s in England where people would share a holiday (vacation) home. The sharing typically would be between four families who would rotate their seasons each year so each family could enjoy the prime times. In the 1970s, timeshares hit the U.S. A company set up shop in south Florida and sold timeshares in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Timeshares evolved into sharing one piece of property, generally a condominium between 50 people, each

Want To Save A Ton Of Money? Hire An Attorney Instead Of A Realtor

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 29, 2016

Want To Save A Ton Of Money? Hire An Attorney Instead Of A Realtor

When buying or selling real estate, normally a real estate agent is involved. In the past, one of the main reasons for using realtors were their access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to list the property for all to see. Nowadays the internet is the first tool people use to list, buy or sell their property, especially the “For Sale by Owner” homes. Many are turning to real estate attorneys to ‘close the deal’. The advantage of this is money. Attorneys will charge eith

Life After Death- Tax Surprise For Millions

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 25, 2016

Life After Death- Tax Surprise For Millions

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

New Student Loan Forgiveness

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 19, 2016

New Student Loan Forgiveness

The Department of Education announced this week they will be sending letters to 387,000 people who have student loans telling them they’ve been identified as eligible to having their loans forgiven under a new student loan debt relief initiative. The student loan relief will be available to borrowers who can’t work due to a disability. The notification letters will begin going out to these eligible borrowers beginning April 18th and will continue being sent over a 16-week per

Succeeding in Business- What You Must Know

Keith Gantenbein

Mar 29, 2016

Succeeding in Business- What You Must Know

Are you thinking of starting your own business? Congratulations. Owning your own business may require working harder and longer hours but the rewards can be worth it. When starting a business, it is imperative the business is set up correctly and the business structure is made to best fit your type of business and you. The formation of your business entity should be dependent on your tax and liability, ownership rights, capital needs and other business transactions. Each sta

The Tax Cometh- 3 Days Late

Keith Gantenbein

Dec 30, 2015

The Tax Cometh- 3 Days Late

The IRS tax deadline for 2016 has moved three days. Due to an overlap of tax deadlines and Federal and State holidays, the IRS announced that taxes are due Monday, April 18th instead of Friday, April 15th. Last minute taxpayers will have one more weekend to work on their tax returns. We can thank the District of Columbia for moving the date to Monday April 18th. In the District of Columbia, Friday, April 15th is a holiday (Emancipation Day). Normally observed on April 16th

Tax Law Legislative Update Given by Denver IRS Lawyer Tyler Murray

Keith Gantenbein

Jul 2, 2015

Tax Law Legislative Update Given by Denver IRS Lawyer Tyler Murray

Tax law attorney Tyler Murray, of Gantenbein Law Firm in Denver, presented The Annual 2015 Tax Law Legislative Update at the multi-sectional luncheon held June 10, 2015. The event, sponsored by the Colorado Bar was held at the CBA CLE office on Grant Street, Denver and attended by Denver-based attorneys representing Real Estate, Business, Trusts, Estates and Tax areas of law. Mr. Murray, spoke on recent legislation enacted this year involving changes to a wide range of tax su

Colorado Sets 1-Day Tax Holiday on Marijuana

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 12, 2015

Colorado Sets 1-Day Tax Holiday on Marijuana

There is an ambiguous provision in the Colorado state constitution’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights that is forcing a one-day tax holiday on buying pot. This weird conflict in our state constitution is the same law that triggered a refund in the first year of pot sales. The Colorado constitution requires voters to approve new taxes based on estimates of the sales. If the tax collected is more than what was estimated, a refund is necessary. This is what happened in the first year o

Collision Course Set to Hit Homeowners

Keith Gantenbein

Jun 8, 2015

Collision Course Set to Hit Homeowners

There’s a collision course coming that will affect millions of homeowners creating hardships as massive as the housing market crash that began in 2006. There is approximately $265 billion tied up in home equity lines of credits called HELOCs. These HELOCs are coming due this year. Many consumers will be in shock as they see a considerable increase in their monthly mortgage payments. The HELOCs (pronounced HEE lock) are loans that lenders give to homeowners in which the borrow

IRS Seizes Every Penny of Man's Savings

Keith Gantenbein

May 15, 2015

IRS Seizes Every Penny of Man's Savings

Lyndon McLellan has owned a small convenience store in rural North Carolina for the past 13 years. His store, L&M Convenience Mart, is his life. He works seven days a week, 12 to 13 hours a day as a small business owner selling hot dogs and soft drinks. Over the course of the last 13 years of owning the store, he managed to save $107,000. The $107,000 is every penny he’s worked so hard for. Spread out over 13 years, that’s about $8,200 a year he’s managed to put away in the b

We Welcome Denver Business & Tax Attorney Michelle McCarthy To Gantenbein Law Firm

Keith Gantenbein

Apr 26, 2015

We Welcome Denver Business & Tax Attorney Michelle McCarthy To Gantenbein Law Firm

We are very pleased to welcome Michelle McCarthy to our law firm. She brings a great depth of tax and business law experience with her, including published articles on marijuana sales tax. Ms. McCarthy was also recently elected to an executive position on the Colorado Bar Association, Tax Section. For more information on our tax law and business attorney, Ms. McCarthy, please visit her attorney bio page. If you need tax or business legal assistance, contact our law firm at 30

Millions May Not Get Expected Tax Refund

Keith Gantenbein

Mar 31, 2015

Millions May Not Get Expected Tax Refund

When workers signed up for Obamacare, they submitted their estimated annual income to qualify for tax subsidies. But 55% of those American households took home more money than they expected or estimated. Workers who underestimated their income due to more overtime or changing jobs will be hit with a tax bill along with part-time workers and free-lancers who made more income than they estimated. Americans who had an alteration in family status such as divorce, marriage or dea

3 Strange, but Legal, Tax Deductions

Keith Gantenbein

Mar 24, 2015

3 Strange, but Legal, Tax Deductions

This is the time of year millions of Americans begin pulling out receipts to start compiling their tax deductions before the April 15th deadline. People deduct the strangest items, but some are actually tax deductible, including: A GLUTEN-FREE DIET: Gluten-free foods are averaging around 242% higher in price than the ordinary counterpart. The additional expense of going gluten-free can be a legitimate tax deduction. If you have a recognized disease where gluten-free foods hel