2022 Colorado Code
Title 29 - Government - Local
Article 2 - County and Municipal Sales or Use Tax
§ 29-2-106. Collection - Administration - Enforcement

1. The collection, administration, and enforcement of any countywide or any city or town sales tax adopted pursuant to this article shall be performed by the executive director of the department of revenue in the same manner as the collection, administration, and enforcement of the Colorado state sales tax. Unless otherwise provided in this article, the provisions of article 26 of title 39, C.R.S., shall govern the collection, administration, and enforcement of sales taxes authorized under this article. In collecting, administering, and enforcing a sales tax authorized under this article, the state sales tax authorized under part 1 of article 26 of title 39, C.R.S., or any other sales tax imposed within the boundaries of a county, the executive director of the department of revenue may enter into an intergovernmental agreement with a county pursuant to the provisions of section 39-26-122.5, C.R.S., to enhance systemic efficiencies in the collection of such taxes.
2. The effective date of any countywide sales tax or city or town sales tax adopted under the provisions of this article shall be either January 1 or July 1 following the date of the election in which such county sales tax proposal is approved; and notice of the adoption of any county sales tax proposal shall be submitted by the county clerk and recorder or by the clerk of the city council or board of trustees of a city or town to the executive director of the department of revenue at least forty-five days prior to the effective date of such tax. If such a sales tax proposal is approved at an election held less than forty-five days prior to the January 1 or July 1 following the date of election, such tax shall not be effective until the next succeeding January 1 or July 1.
3. 1. The executive director of the department of revenue shall, at no charge, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection (3), administer, collect, and distribute any sales tax imposed in conformity with this article. The executive director shall make monthly distributions of sales tax collections to the appropriate official in each county and in each incorporated city or town in the amount determined under the distribution formula established in accordance with this article. Except as provided in section 39-26-208, C.R.S., any use tax imposed pursuant to section 29-2-109 shall be collected, administered, and enforced by the city, town, or county as provided by ordinance or resolution.
   2. The executive director is hereby authorized to contract and enter into agreements with the county clerk and recorder and municipalities for the collection of state, county, and city or town use taxes upon motor vehicles, and the county clerk and recorder may charge and retain a fee as the director may approve to fully cover the cost of such collection by the county clerk and recorder.
   3. 1. A qualified purchaser may provide a direct payment permit number issued pursuant to section 39-26-103.5, C.R.S., to any vendor or retailer that is liable and responsible for collecting and remitting any countywide sales tax or city or town sales tax imposed on any sale made to the qualified purchaser pursuant to the provisions of this article. A vendor or retailer that has received in good faith from a qualified purchaser a direct payment permit number shall not be liable or responsible for collection and remittance of any sales tax imposed on such sale that is paid for directly from such qualified purchaser's funds and not the personal funds of any individual.
      2. A qualified purchaser that provides a direct payment permit number to a vendor or retailer shall be liable and responsible for the amount of sales tax imposed on any sale made to the qualified purchaser pursuant to this article in the same manner as liability would be imposed on a qualified purchaser for state sales tax pursuant to section 39-26-105 (3), C.R.S.

4. 1. 1. The executive director of the department of revenue shall, at no charge, administer, collect, and distribute the sales tax of any home rule municipality upon request of the governing body of such municipality: (4) (a) (I) The executive director of the department of revenue shall, at no charge, administer, collect, and distribute the sales tax of any home rule municipality upon request of the governing body of such municipality:
         1. If the provisions of the sales tax ordinance of said municipality, other than those provisions relating to local procedures followed in adopting the ordinance, correspond to the requirements of this article for sales taxes imposed by counties, towns, and cities;
         2. If no use tax is to be collected by the department of revenue except as provided in section 39-26-208, C.R.S.; and
         3. Whether or not the ordinance applies the sales tax to the exemptions listed in section 29-2-105 (1)(d)(I).

      2. When the governing body of any home rule municipality requests the department of revenue to administer, collect, and distribute the sales tax of said municipality as specified in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a), said governing body shall certify to the executive director of the department a true copy of the home rule municipality's sales tax ordinance.

   2. The executive director of the department of revenue shall furnish the governing body of each municipality and county a monthly listing of all returns filed by the retailers in such municipality or county. The governing body of such municipality or county shall notify the executive director of the department of revenue of any retailers omitted from this listing as soon as practicable, but in no event more than one hundred eighty days after receiving said monthly listing. Failure of the governing body of such municipality or county to notify the executive director of the department of revenue of any omitted retailers, within such period, shall preclude the municipality or county from making any further claims based upon such omissions. Neither the executive director of the department of revenue nor any municipality or county shall be held liable for any omissions which have not been called to the executive director's attention within this period.
   3. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 39-21-113, C.R.S., the executive director of the department of revenue shall report monthly to each municipality and county for which the department of revenue collects a sales tax information identifying licensed vendors within the municipality or county and, where the chief administrative officer or his designee has executed a memorandum of understanding with the department of revenue providing for control of confidential data, the status of each vendor's account including the amount of such municipality's or county's sales tax collected and paid by each such vendor. The executive director of the department may, in his discretion, provide additional information to a municipality or county concerning collection and administration of such municipality's or county's sales tax if such a memorandum has been executed.
      2. Except in accordance with judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, no official or employee of a municipality or county receiving sales tax information from the department of revenue pursuant to this paragraph (c) shall divulge or make known to any person not an official or employee of such municipality or county any information which identifies or permits the identification of the amount of sales taxes collected or paid by any individual licensed vendor. The municipal or county officials or employees charged with the custody of such sales tax information shall not be required to produce any such information in any action or proceeding in any court except in an action or proceeding under the provisions of this article to which the municipality or county having custody of the information is a party, in which event the court may require the production of, and may admit in evidence, so much of said sales tax information as is pertinent to the action or proceeding. Any municipal or county official or employee who willfully violates any of the provisions of this paragraph (c) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and shall be dismissed from office.

5. The executive director of the department of revenue may promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this article.
6. The executive director of the department of revenue may, in his discretion, exchange information with the proper official of any home rule city which imposes a sales and use tax relative to gross sales reported, changes in gross sales resulting from audits, and other information concerning licensed vendors within the jurisdiction of the home rule city.
7. For the purpose of the administration by the state of the provisions of this article, as well as any other state or federal program, each county, home rule county, statutory town or city, home rule town or city, city and county, or territorial charter town or city shall file, pursuant to section 29-2-110, with the executive director of the department of revenue a copy of each sales or use tax ordinance or resolution, or any amendment thereto, no later than ten days after the effective date thereof. A copy of any sales or use tax ordinance or resolution in effect on March 11, 1982, shall be filed no later than July 1, 1982. The failure to file a copy of any such ordinance or resolution shall not give rise to any claim for refund by any taxpayer, other than for overpayment which is determined to be allowable under such ordinance or resolution.
8. Uniform collection procedures. Each home rule city, town, and city and county shall follow, and conform its ordinances where necessary to, the statute of limitations applicable to the enforcement of state sales and use tax collections, the statute of limitations applicable to refunds of state sales and use taxes, the amount of penalties and interest payable on delinquent remittances of state sales and use taxes, and the posting of bonds pursuant to section 39-21-105, C.R.S.
9. Standard sales and use tax reporting form.
   1. The executive director of the department of revenue shall adopt, by regulation, a standard municipal sales and use tax reporting form. Such form shall be separate from the state form and shall be the only sales and use tax reporting form required to be used by any person collecting the sales or use tax of any home rule city, town, or city and county which collects its own sales or use tax.
   2. Such form shall be designed so as to permit reporting of variations in base, rate, and vendor's fee, and shall contain adequate location coding and use tax remittance items. Prior to the adoption of and any revision to the form, each home rule city, town, and city and county which collects its own sales tax shall be given the opportunity to comment on the proposed form or revision to the form.
   3. Such standard form and any subsequent revisions shall be used by each home rule city, town, and city and county which collects its own sales tax by the first full month commencing one hundred twenty days after the effective date of the regulation adopting or revising the standard form.
   4. 1. In addition to the standard municipal sales and use tax form set forth in paragraph (a) of this subsection (9), on or before December 1, 1994, the executive director of the department of revenue shall cooperate with and assist local governments in the development of a common local sales and use tax form. For purposes of this paragraph (d), "local government" means a city, home rule city, town, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state which collects its own sales or use tax.
      2. The common local sales and use tax form shall:
         1. Allow a person collecting the sales and use tax of any local government to report all sales and use taxes collected for a local government on the common local sales and use tax reporting form;
         2. Be accepted by all local governments; and
         3. Be made available at all state and local sales and use tax reporting locations.

      3. The executive director of the department of revenue shall cooperate with and assist local governments in the development of a uniform local government sales and use tax license application form. Any uniform local government sales and use tax license application form developed shall be made available at all state and local sales and use tax reporting locations.
      4. The provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (9) notwithstanding, in addition to the standard sales and use tax form set forth in paragraph (a) of this subsection (9), the common local sales and use tax form developed pursuant to this paragraph (d) may be used by a person collecting the sales or use tax of any city, home rule city, town, city and county, or other political subdivision of the state which collects its own sales or use tax.

10. Delayed distributions.
    1. If any sales tax to be distributed pursuant to this section is not distributed within sixty days after the processing date, interest shall be added to the undistributed amount from the sixtieth day after the processing date until the date such sales tax is distributed. The rate of said interest shall be equal to the average rate, rounded to one-thousandth of a percent, being earned by the investment of moneys in the state treasury for the same period.
    2. The provisions of this subsection (10) shall apply only to sales tax collected by the department of revenue with a processing date occurring on or after January 1, 2001. The provisions of this subsection (10) shall not apply in the event that the distribution of sales tax was delayed as a result of unforseen circumstances or caused primarily by an entity other than the department of revenue. Such determination shall be made in good faith by the department.

Source: L. 67: p. 662, § 6. C.R.S. 1963: § 138-10-6. L. 71: p. 1267, § 1. L. 73: p. 1478, § 3. L. 75: (3)(a) amended, p. 963, § 5, effective July 14. L. 77: (4) amended, p. 1400, § 1, effective May 26. L. 79: (4)(a) amended, p. 1430, § 14, effective July 3. L. 80: (2) amended, p. 728, § 26, effective May 1; (4)(a) amended, p. 735, § 5, effective May 2. L. 81: (3)(b) amended, p. 1404, § 1, effective July 1. L. 82: (7) added, p. 460, § 1, effective March 11. L. 85: (8) and (9) added, p. 1031, § 2, effective January 1, 1986. L. 90: (3)(a) amended, p. 1746, § 2, effective May 8. L. 94: (9)(d) added, p. 1314, § 1, effective May 25. L. 97: (9)(d)(I) and (9)(d)(III) amended, p. 527, § 10, effective July 1. L. 99: (4)(a) amended, p. 981, § 4, effective May 28; (4)(a) amended, p. 1276, § 4, effective July 1; (4)(a) amended, p. 1326, § 6, effective July 1; (3)(c) added, p. 13, § 5, effective January 1, 2000; (4)(a) amended, p. 1357, § 5, effective January 1, 2000. L. 2000: (4)(a) amended, p. 552, § 6, effective July 1; (4)(b) amended and (10) added, p. 421, § 1, effective August 2. L. 2001: (4)(a) amended, p. 163, § 3, effective July 1; (4)(a) amended, p. 384, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2002: (3)(a) amended, p. 1036, § 82, effective June 1. L. 2004: (4)(a) amended, p. 1038, § 4, effective July 1. L. 2008: (4)(a) R&RE, p. 1322, § 6, effective May 27; (4)(a) R&RE, p. 1546, § 4, effective May 28; (4)(a) R&RE, p. 968, § 2, effective August 5. L. 2009: (1) amended, (HB 09-1130), ch. 229, p. 1042, § 1, effective August 5. L. 2013: (2) amended, (HB 13-1295), ch. 314, p. 1655, § 10, effective see editor's note. L. 2016: (8) amended, (SB 16-036), ch. 292, p. 1182, § 3, effective August 10.

1. Amendments to subsection (4)(a) by House Bill 99-1002, House Bill 99-1015, House Bill 99-1271, and House Bill 99-1381 were harmonized.
2. Amendments to subsection (4)(a) by Senate Bill 01-055 and House Bill 01-1256 were harmonized.
3. Section 16 (3) of chapter 314, Session Laws of Colorado 2013, provides that the act amending subsection (2) takes effect only if congress enacts an act that authorizes states to require certain retailers to pay, collect, or remit state or local sales taxes. Subsection (2) as amended in section 10 of chapter 314 was repealed by House Bill 19-1240, effective June 1, 2019, and therefore did not take effect. (See L. 2019, p. 2504 .)

Cross references: (1) For the legislative declaration contained in the 1999 act amending subsection (4)(a), see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 1999.

(2) For the legislative declaration contained in the 2008 act amending subsection (4)(a), see section 1 of chapter 332, Session Laws of Colorado 2008.

(3) For the legislative intent contained in the 2008 act amending subsection (4)(a), see section 9 of chapter 302, Session Laws of Colorado 2008.