The city's Sales & Use Tax team manages business licensing, sales tax, use and other tax filings, construction use tax reconciliation returns and various tax auditing functions.
Our walk-in hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
We are located at 1136 Alpine Avenue, Boulder, CO 80304. Parking is available from North Street.
Our phone hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For assistance, please call 303-441-3051 or email salestax@bouldercolorado.gov.
Visit the Boulder Online Tax System portal.
Use your existing username and password to log in to Boulder Online Tax System. Please note: you do not need to log in if you are filing a Special Event Return.
If you don’t have an account, you first need to obtain a City of Boulder business license. If you have an existing city business license, you can view this video about how to create a web log-in to access an existing account.
Visit the Boulder Online Tax System Help Center for additional resources and guidance.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for online, contact Sales Tax staff at salestax@bouldercolorado.gov.
New: The City of Boulder adopted changes to the Revenue Code amending the definition of vendor to include Marketplace Facilitators. Learn about the requirements for Marketplace Facilitators.
Taxpayers may find that check payments mailed to PO Box 791 do not clear your bank account as quickly as normal. For faster deposit times, please make sure that payments are mailed to the address below, or pay online through the Boulder Online Tax System.
Mail payments to:
City of Boulder Sales Tax
Dept 1128
Denver, CO 80263-0001
Payments postmarked on or before the 20th of the month will be considered timely and will not be assessed penalties and interest.
Filing frequency is determined by average tax due. Please notify us via email if the business needs a filing frequency change.
| If Average Tax due is: | Filing Frequency |
|---|---|
| $300 or more a month | Monthly |
| $15-$300 a month | Quarterly |
| Less than $15 a month | Annual |
Boulder is a locally-collected/administered home-rule city, and as such the state's new rules do not apply to the city's nexus criteria.
Effective October 1, 2021, the City of Boulder adopted Ordinance No 8457 establishing an economic nexus standard for remote sellers. This ordinance was developed by home rule municipal tax professionals, in conjunction with the business community and the Colorado Department of Revenue, as part of a sales tax simplification effort.
Economic Nexus requires remote sellers with no physical nexus in Boulder to collect and remit sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property, commodities, and/or services. Economic nexus levels the playing field between brick-and-mortar retail stores and remote sellers and shifts the responsibility of remitting tax on online sales from the purchasers of goods and services to the retailer.
Our nexus standards are still outlined in the city code as follows:
BRC 3-1-1. - Definitions Engaged in business in the city means performing or providing services, or selling, leasing, renting, delivering, or installing tangible personal property for storage, use, or consumption within the city.
Engaged in business in the city includes, without limitation, any one of the following activities by a person: (a) Directly, indirectly, or by a subsidiary, maintaining a building, store, office, salesroom, warehouse, or other place of business within the city; (b) Sending one or more employees, agents, or commissioned sales persons into the city to solicit business or to install, assemble, repair, service, or assist in the use of its products, or for demonstration, or for any other reason; (c) Maintaining one or more employees, agents, or commissioned sales persons on duty at a location within the city; (d) Owning, leasing, renting, or otherwise exercising control over real or personal property within the city; or (e) Making more than one delivery into the city within a twelve-month period by any means other than a common carrier. (f) Who is a retailer or vendor in the state of Colorado making more than one delivery into the city within a twelve month period; or (g) Making retail sales sufficient to meet the definitional requirements of economic nexus.
Ordinance 8457 expanded the definition of engaged in business in the city to include:
With the term economic nexus defined as:
The connection between the city and a person not having a physical nexus in the State of Colorado, which connection is established when the person or marketplace facilitator makes retail sales into the city, and:
(a)In the previous calendar year, the person, which includes a marketplace facilitator, has made retail sales into the state exceeding the amount specified in C.R.S. § 39-26-102(3)(c), as amended; or
(b)In the current calendar year, 90 days has passed following the month in which the person, which includes a marketplace facilitator, has made retail sales into the state exceeding the amount specified in C.R.S. § 39-26-102(3)(c), as amended.
More generally, economic nexus applies to any retailer that does not maintain a physical location in Colorado and makes retail sales of tangible personal property, commodities, and/or services over $100,000 annually within the State of Colorado.
See our Business Licenses page or Guidance for Remote Sellers page for more information.
The City of Boulder Revised Code requires that all types of businesses with nexus in Boulder be licensed and approved by the City before operating. If a business has more than one location in the city, each location needs a separate license. Please keep in mind that a City of Boulder Business License comes with a tax filing requirement.
There is always a tax filing requirement even if it is $0. The City of Boulder presumes tax liability unless we receive a tax return indicating otherwise.
