(1) (a) In addition to any sales tax imposed pursuant to section 29-2-103 and articles 26 and 28.8 of title 39, and in addition to the excise tax imposed pursuant to article 28.8 of title 39, each county in the state is authorized to levy, collect, and enforce a county excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility authorized by the county at a rate of up to five percent of the average market rate, as determined by the department of revenue pursuant to section 39-28.8-101 (1), of the unprocessed retail marijuana if the transaction is between affiliated retail marijuana business licensees and at a rate of up to five percent of the contract price, as defined in section 39-28.8-101 (2.5), for unprocessed retail marijuana if the transaction is between unaffiliated retail marijuana business licensees; except that a county is not authorized to levy, collect, and enforce a county excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility pursuant to this subsection (1) within any municipality that levies such an excise tax pursuant to subsection (2) of this section and a county which, before November 1, 2018, obtained the approval of the eligible electors of the county as required by subsection (1)(b) of this section to levy only a county excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility that is calculated based upon the average market rate of unprocessed retail marijuana and in which the eligible electors thereafter rejected a proposed amendment to allow the tax to be calculated based on the contract price for transactions between unaffiliated retail marijuana businesses may continue to collect the tax on such transactions based on an average market rate calculation until December 31, 2020. The tax shall be imposed at the time when the retail marijuana cultivation facility first sells or transfers unprocessed retail marijuana from the retail marijuana cultivation facility to a retail marijuana product manufacturing facility, a retail marijuana store, or another retail marijuana cultivation facility.
(b) No excise tax shall be levied pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) until the proposal has been referred to and approved by the eligible electors of the county. The adoption procedures for a countywide sales tax, use tax, or both, as specified in this article, shall apply to the referral and approval of an excise tax pursuant to this subsection (1). Any proposal for the levy of an excise tax in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) may be submitted to the eligible electors of the county only on the date of the state general election or on the first Tuesday in November of an odd-numbered year, and any election on the proposal must be conducted by the county clerk and recorder in accordance with the Uniform Election Code of 1992, articles 1 to 13 of title 1, C.R.S.
(2) (a) In addition to any sales tax imposed pursuant to section 29-2-102 and articles 26 and 28.8 of title 39, and in addition to the excise tax imposed pursuant to article 28.8 of title 39, each municipality in the state is authorized to levy, collect, and enforce a municipal excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility at a rate of up to five percent of the average market rate, as determined by the department of revenue pursuant to section 39-28.8-101 (1), of the unprocessed retail marijuana if the transaction is between affiliated retail marijuana business licensees and at a rate of up to five percent of the contract price, as defined in section 39-28.8-101 (2.5), for unprocessed retail marijuana if the transaction is between unaffiliated retail marijuana business licensees; except that a municipality which, before November 1, 2018, obtained the approval of the eligible electors of the municipality as required by subsection (2)(b) of this section to levy only a municipal excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility that is calculated based upon the average market rate of unprocessed retail marijuana and in which the eligible electors thereafter rejected a proposed amendment to allow the tax to be calculated based on the contract price for transactions between unaffiliated retail marijuana businesses may continue to collect the tax on such transactions based on an average market rate calculation until December 31, 2020. The tax shall be imposed at the time when the retail marijuana cultivation facility first sells or transfers unprocessed retail marijuana from the retail marijuana cultivation facility to a retail marijuana product manufacturing facility, a retail marijuana store, or another retail marijuana cultivation facility.
(b) No excise tax shall be levied pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) until the proposal has been referred to and approved by the eligible electors of the municipality in accordance with the provisions of article 10 of title 31, C.R.S. Any proposal for the levy of an excise tax in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection (2) may be submitted to the eligible electors of the municipality on the date of the state general election, on the first Tuesday in November of an odd-numbered year, or on the date of a municipal biennial election. Any election on the proposal shall be conducted by the clerk of the municipality in accordance with the Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965, article 10 of title 31, C.R.S.
(3) Any excise tax imposed by a county or municipality pursuant to this section shall not be collected, administered, or enforced by the department of revenue pursuant to part 2 of this article 2, but shall instead be collected, administered, and enforced by the county or municipality imposing the tax.
(4) A county or municipality in which the eligible electors have approved an excise tax pursuant to this section may credit the revenues collected from the tax to the general fund of the county or municipality or to any special fund created in the county or municipality's treasury. The governing body of a county or municipality may use the revenues collected from the tax imposed pursuant to this section for any purpose as determined by the governing body or the electors of the county or municipality, as applicable.
(5) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to invalidate the presumed legality of any county or municipal excise tax imposed on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility that is consistent with this section and that is in addition to any excise tax imposed pursuant to article 28.8 of title 39, C.R.S., and that was approved by the eligible electors of the county or municipality prior to June 4, 2015.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit counties and municipalities from cooperating to create a countywide uniform excise tax on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana by a retail marijuana cultivation facility with voluntary abandonment of municipal excise tax ordinances.
(7) If a retail marijuana cultivation facility uses a retail marijuana transporter, as defined in section 44-10-103 (65), to transport unprocessed retail marijuana being sold or transferred by the retail marijuana cultivation facility to a retail marijuana product manufacturer facility, a retail marijuana store, or another retail marijuana cultivation facility, the transportation of the unprocessed retail marijuana by the retail marijuana transporter is not a transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana for the purpose of levying any excise tax imposed pursuant to this section.
(8) Repealed.
Source: L. 2015: Entire section added, (HB 15-1367), ch. 271, p. 1078, � 18, effective June 4. L. 2017: (1)(a) and (2)(a) amended, (SB 17-192), ch. 299, p. 1640, � 5, effective August 9. L. 2018: (1)(a) and (2)(a) amended and (7) and (8) added, (SB 18-259), ch. 406, p. 2388, � 1, effective January 1, 2019. L. 2019: (7) amended, (SB 19-241), ch. 390, p. 3474, � 43, effective August 2; (7) amended, (SB 19-224), ch. 315, p. 2941, � 28, effective January 1, 2020. L. 2024: (3) amended, (SB 24-025), ch. 144, p. 566, � 15, effective July 1, 2025.
Editor's note: (1) Subsection (7) was amended in SB 19-241. Those amendments were superseded by the amendment to subsection (7) in SB 19-224, effective January 1, 2020.
(2) Subsection (8)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (8), effective July 1, 2019. (See L. 2018, p. 2390.)
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 15-1367, see section 1 of chapter 271, Session Laws of Colorado 2015.
29-2-115. Retail marijuana sales tax - county - municipality - election - legislative declaration - definition. (1) (a) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that the special sales tax recognized in this section permits counties and statutory municipalities to enact an additional tax specific to the sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, subject to voter approval. This distinct taxing authority is in addition to the statutory authority for counties and statutory municipalities to impose a general sales tax, while home rule municipalities derive all sales taxing authority from the home rule authority granted by the Colorado constitution.
(b) The general assembly further finds and declares that any special sales tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products proposed by counties and statutory municipalities should take into account the total tax rate that would exist if the tax is adopted by voters. It is therefore also the intent of the general assembly in enacting this section to ensure that the imposition of a county special sales tax within a home rule municipality or statutory municipality occurs only when the municipality does not have its own special sales tax, and otherwise only after an intergovernmental agreement with a municipality that does impose, or imposes at any time, its own special sales tax.
(2) For purposes of this section, special sales tax means a sales tax imposed by a local government in addition to the general sales tax imposed pursuant to section 29-2-102 or section 29-2-103, as applicable, and in addition to the taxes imposed pursuant to articles 26 and 28.8 of title 39.
(3) (a) Each county in the state is authorized to levy, collect, and enforce a county special sales tax upon all sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, as those terms are defined in section 44-10-103, under the following circumstances:
(I) A county may levy, collect, and enforce a county special sales tax upon all sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products pursuant to this subsection (3) in the unincorporated areas of the county;
(II) A county may levy, collect, and enforce a county special sales tax upon all sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products pursuant to this subsection (3) in the municipalities within the boundaries of the county, in whole or in part, that do not levy a municipal special sales tax on the sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products. The county may levy a special sales tax in a municipality pursuant to this subsection (3)(a)(II) only until the municipality obtains voter approval to levy a municipal special sales tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products. If the municipality obtains such voter approval, the county special sales tax authorized by this subsection (3)(a)(II) is invalid within the corporate limits of the municipality unless the county enters into an intergovernmental agreement with the municipality pursuant to subsection (3)(a)(III) of this section that authorizes the county to continue to levy, collect, and enforce the special sales tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products within the corporate limits of the municipality.
(III) A county may levy, collect, and enforce a county special sales tax upon all sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products pursuant to this subsection (3) in each municipality within the boundaries of the county, in whole or in part, that levies a municipal special sales tax on the sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, if the governing body of the county and the governing body of the municipality enter into an intergovernmental agreement pertaining to the county's levy, collection, and enforcement of a county special sales tax upon all sales of all retail marijuana and retail marijuana products within the corporate limits of the municipality. An intergovernmental agreement pursuant to this subsection (3)(a)(III) may include a provision for the apportionment of a specified percentage of the gross county retail marijuana special sales tax revenue collected by the county to the municipality.
(b) Notwithstanding section 29-2-103 (2), a county may levy, collect, and enforce a special sales tax pursuant to this subsection (3) in less than the entire county when the county satisfies one or more of the conditions of this subsection (3).
(c) No special sales tax shall be levied pursuant to this subsection (3) until the proposal has been referred to and approved by the eligible electors of the county in accordance with this article 2. Any proposal for the levy of a special sales tax in accordance with this subsection (3) may be submitted to the eligible electors of the county only on the date of the state general election or on the first Tuesday in November of an odd-numbered year. Any election on the proposal must be conducted by the county clerk and recorder in accordance with the Uniform Election Code of 1992, articles 1 to 13 of title 1.
(4) (a) Each municipality in the state is authorized to levy, collect, and enforce a municipal special sales tax upon all sales of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, as those terms are defined in section 44-10-103.
(b) No special sales tax shall be levied pursuant to subsection (4)(a) of this section until the proposal has been referred to and approved by the eligible electors of the municipality in accordance with article 10 of title 31. Any proposal for the levy of a special sales tax in accordance with subsection (4)(a) of this section must be submitted to the eligible electors of the municipality on the date of the state general election, on the first Tuesday in November of an odd-numbered year, or on the date of a municipal biennial election. Any election on the proposal must be conducted by the clerk of the municipality in accordance with the Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965, article 10 of title 31.
(5) If a county or municipality obtained approval from the eligible electors of the county or municipality prior to May 4, 2017, to levy, collect, and enforce a special sales tax on the sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, the special sales tax is valid and the county or municipality is authorized to continue to levy, collect, and enforce the special sales tax; except that, in the case of a county, the county is authorized to continue to levy, collect, and enforce the special sales tax so long as the county complies with subsection (3) of this section. If a county levies, collects, and enforces a special sales tax in a municipality that has already obtained voter approval to levy a municipal special sales tax on the sale of retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, the county special sales tax is invalid within the corporate limits of the municipality unless the county enters into an intergovernmental agreement with the municipality pursuant to subsection (3)(a)(III) of this section that authorizes the county to continue to levy, collect, and enforce the special sales tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products within the corporate limits of the municipality.
(6) (a) Any retail marijuana special sales tax imposed by a county or municipality pursuant to this section shall not be collected, administered, or enforced by the department of revenue pursuant to part 2 of this article 2, but shall instead be collected, administered, and enforced by the county or municipality imposing the special sales tax.
(b) A county or municipality in which a special sales tax is imposed pursuant to this section may authorize a retail marijuana store to retain a percentage of the retail marijuana special sales tax collected pursuant to this section to cover the expenses of collecting and remitting the special sales tax to the county or municipality. The county or municipality shall determine the percentage that a retail marijuana store may retain pursuant to this subsection (6)(b).
(7) A county or municipality in which the eligible electors have approved a special sales tax pursuant to this section may credit the revenues collected from the special sales tax to the general fund of the county or municipality or to any special fund created in the county or municipality's treasury. The governing body of a county or municipality may use the revenues collected from the special sales tax imposed pursuant to this section for any purpose as determined by the governing body of the county or the municipality.
Source: L. 2017: Entire section added, (HB 17-1203), ch. 196, p. 714, � 1, effective May 4. L. 2019: IP(3)(a) and (4)(a) amended, (SB 19-241), ch. 390, p. 3474, � 44, effective August 2; IP(3)(a) and (4)(a) amended, (SB 19-224), ch. 315, p. 2942, � 29, effective January 1, 2020. L. 2024: (6)(a) amended, (SB 24-025), ch. 144, p. 566, � 16, effective July 1, 2025.
Editor's note: (1) Subsections IP(3)(a) and (4)(a) were amended in SB 19-241. Those amendments were superseded by the amendment of subsections IP(3)(a) and (4)(a) in SB 19-224, effective January 1, 2020.
(2) Section 54 of chapter 144 (SB 24-025), Session Laws of Colorado 2024, provides that the act changing this section applies to any taxable event on or after July 1, 2025.
29-2-116. Lodging tax - statewide requirements and limitations - legislative declaration - definitions. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
(a) Local taxing jurisdictions may impose a local lodging tax;
(b) Local lodging taxes across local taxing jurisdictions vary vastly;
(c) Local taxing jurisdictions also vary on reporting requirements for local lodging operators and accommodation intermediaries;
(d) Such variation across local taxing jurisdictions is exceedingly burdensome on local lodging operators and accommodation intermediaries;
(e) It is of statewide concern to have uniformity across local taxing jurisdictions to promote accurate compliance with the collection and remittance of local lodging taxes; and
(f) It is also of statewide concern to standardize reporting requirements to promote uniform and consistent treatment among taxpayers and prevent disparate tax treatment.
(2) (a) For purposes of local tax administration of remote sales, no local taxing jurisdiction, including any home rule city, town, or city and county, that imposes a local lodging tax shall apply additional reporting requirements or standards to an accommodation's intermediary that are not similarly applied to all marketplace facilitators, obligated to collect and remit locally administered taxes by the local taxing jurisdiction.
(b) Nothing in this section prohibits a local taxing jurisdiction from requesting information maintained by an accommodation's intermediary that is in connection with an audit related to a local lodging tax in its ordinary course of business. Nothing in this section prohibits a local taxing jurisdiction from requesting and obtaining additional information or data from a marketplace facilitator or an accommodation's intermediary to be provided on a voluntary basis. Nothing in this section prohibits a home rule city, town, or city and county, for purposes unrelated to the administration of local taxes, from passing an ordinance regulating a marketplace facilitator or an accommodation's intermediary, including an ordinance governing the issuance of information or data by a marketplace facilitator or accommodation's intermediary to the home rule city, town, or city and county, unless otherwise protected by state or federal law.
(c) With respect to any sale in a local taxing jurisdiction that has passed an applicable marketplace facilitator law, a local taxing jurisdiction shall solely audit marketplace facilitators for sales facilitated by the marketplace when the marketplace facilitator is filing tax returns with the local taxing jurisdiction. A local taxing jurisdiction shall not audit or otherwise assess tax against marketplace sellers, multichannel sellers, or lodging suppliers for sales facilitated by a marketplace facilitator that has provided the marketplace sellers, multichannel sellers, or lodging suppliers confirmation that the marketplace facilitator is responsible for remitting tax. Nothing in this section prohibits a local taxing jurisdiction from auditing or otherwise assessing tax against marketplace sellers, multichannel sellers, or lodging suppliers if the local taxing jurisdiction has not passed an applicable marketplace facilitator law or the marketplace facilitator has failed to confirm that it remits the tax.
(3) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Accommodations intermediary means a marketplace facilitator, as defined in section 39-26-102 (5.9), who facilitates the sales of transient lodging considered to be a sale under section 39-26-102 (11) or a short-term rental unit.
(b) Local taxing jurisdiction means any local taxing jurisdiction for which the department of revenue does not collect, administer, and enforce a local lodging tax.
(c) Lodging supplier means an operator of a facility providing rooms or accommodations for overnight use furnished to any person who, for consideration, uses, possesses, occupies or has the right to use, possess, or occupy any such room or accommodation in a hotel, apartment hotel, lodging house, motel, motor hotel, guest house, guest ranch, resort, mobile home, mobile home park, auto court, inn, trailer court, trailer park, hotel, or short-term rental under any concession, permit, lease, contract, or license to use or any other similar arrangement.
(d) Marketplace has the same meaning as set forth in section 39-26-102 (5.8).
(e) Marketplace facilitator has the same meaning as set forth in section 39-26-102 (5.9).
(f) Marketplace seller has the same meaning as set forth in section 39-26-102 (6).
Source: L. 2024: Entire section added, (SB 24-024), ch. 104, p. 327, � 1, effective January 1, 2025.