Tax preparation for Denver, Colorado

Four situations account for most of what makes a Denver return more than a W-2 and a standard deduction.

Contractor and gig income

A 1099-NEC does not come with withholding, which is why a first year of contracting so often ends in a bill nobody budgeted for. The fix is usually quarterly estimated payments and an honest expense list rather than anything clever, and the year it starts is the year to get the pattern right.

Rental property, including short-term

Denver licenses short-term rentals and limits them to a primary residence, and how a rental is used decides how it is reported. Most residential rentals belong on Schedule E. A short-term rental where substantial services are provided can land on Schedule C instead, which changes the self-employment tax position. Depreciation also has to be tracked from the start, because it is recaptured when you sell whether or not anyone claimed it.

Equity compensation

RSUs, ISOs and ESPP shares from a downtown employer create two separate events, the vest or exercise and the later sale, and the basis a broker reports frequently understates what you actually paid. That produces a return showing more gain than really occurred. It is one of the more common overpayments we see and it is entirely avoidable by checking the reported basis against the vest records.

Moving into or out of Colorado

A part-year return means splitting income between states by when it was earned, not by where the payer sits. Withholding still set for a previous state's rate is the usual complication, and left uncorrected it repeats quietly for years.

The Denver tax people forget

Denver levies an Occupational Privilege Tax, still widely called the head tax. It applies to employees earning above a monthly threshold for work performed inside the city, and it has both an employee portion and a separate employer portion. It catches two groups off guard: people who live outside Denver but work in it, and small business owners who take on their first Denver-based employee without realising a separate registration and recurring filing now applies to them.

It is small money and a real filing obligation, which is the worst combination for something easy to miss. Rates and thresholds are set by the city and do change, so confirm the current figures with Denver rather than relying on what applied a few years ago.

Looking for a tax accountant in Denver?

Worth being straight about the wording, because it is how most people search. Chuck is an Enrolled Agent, not a CPA. That is a federal credential issued by the IRS and maintained through continuing education, and it covers tax specifically rather than accounting generally.

For an individual return, a Schedule C, a partnership or a small S-corp, an EA and a tax-focused CPA are doing the same work. If what you need is audited or reviewed financial statements, or a formal attestation for a lender, that takes a CPA firm and we will say so rather than take the engagement. The full comparison is here.

How Denver clients actually work with us

Most never come to the office. Documents go up through the secure upload, questions get answered by phone, and the return gets the same read-through before it is filed. For anyone who would rather sit down, the office is a straight run south on I-25 at Park Meadows, roughly twenty minutes outside rush hour and considerably easier to park at than downtown.

What we handle for Denver clients

• Individual and small business returns, prepared and e-filed
• Back and prior-year returns, filed and caught up
• Schedule C, rental, equity, and part-year Colorado returns

Denver questions we get asked