Special Event Vendor Tax Guide

Welcome to the City of Boulder!

Thank you for choosing to participate in a City of Boulder special event. Special events in Boulder are essential to making our city the wonderful place that it is. The following information is about the sales tax rate held in the City of Boulder.

Every participating business at this event is required to remit a sales tax return to the City of Boulder. A special event tax return can be filed via Boulder Online Tax.

Tax returns are due by the 20^th of the month following your event.

Please be thorough when remitting sales tax. Your accuracy is essential to showing the economic effect of special events on the City of Boulder.

Sales tax rates are as follows:

Type of Tax	City %	State %	County %	RTD & Cultural	Total
Sales	3.860%	2.900%	1.185%	1.100%	9.045%
Food Service	4.010%	2.900%	1.185%	1.100%	9.195%

Thank you for your cooperation! We hope to work with you again soon!

Sincerely,
City of Boulder Sales Tax Team
salestax@bouldercolorado.gov

How to Register for a Special Event

Go to the Boulder Online Tax System

Boulder Online Tax System

Note: Only valid for businesses located outside City of Boulder limits. If located within City of Boulder limits, a standard business license is required.

Register to Attend a Special Event

On the Boulder Online Tax System, under Registration, click Register to Attend a Special Event (Vendors)

Select the year, month and special event

Under Event Information, use the dropdown fields to select the year and month of the event and then select the event name.

Use the drop-down icons to select the year and month of the event and then select the event.

Enter business information

Enter your business information, including the name of the business, the type and subtype of business, and the ID that you would like to use.

Choose ID type and enter number

The ID types are Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), Individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), Social Security Number (SSN), and Taxpayer ID (your City of Boulder 8-digit customer identifier if you have an existing business license). Enter the ID type twice to confirm before proceeding to the next step.

The ID options are FEIN, ITIN, SSN, and Taxpayer ID.

Add and verify address

Add and verify the address of the business. Be sure to use your primary business address and not the location of the event. First, type in the address, and then click the ‘Verify Address’ button.

Enter your primary business address and click the verify address button.

Find your verified address and click the Select this address link. Click the Save button.

Find the address and choose the Select this address link

Once the address is verified you can move on to the next step.

Click the Verify Address button to verify the address

Choose contact type and enter contact information

Enter the contact information for your business.

Choose the contact type and enter the contact information

Submit application

Once your registration is complete you can submit the application. Special Event licenses are free for out-of-city vendors. Boulder based businesses are required to have a normal business license.

Once your registration processes, you will receive an email from noreply_bots@bouldercolorado.gov with a copy of your Special Event License. Be sure to have a digital or printed copy of the license with you at the special event.

How to File a Special Event Return

Go to the Boulder Online Tax System

Boulder Online Tax System

Click File a Special Event Return

Under Returns click File a Special Event Return

Select the year, month and special event

Use the dropdown field to select the year, month and the special event name.

Enter the year, the month and the special event name

Enter business information

You will need to type in the same identifying business information you used to register for the event.

Complete special event tax return

If you successfully pre-registered for the event, you will now be taken directly to the return. You can see instructions for each tax type on the right hand side.

If you owe tax on the return, answer No to the first question and then type the amount of your gross sales from the event.

Note: If you answer No you will see an error message pop up. Once you fill out the return the error will disappear.

If you answer No on the first question you will see an error message appear.

Enter gross sales

If you are a food or beverage vendor, please type the amount of your gross sales into the Food Service Tax line in addition to the Sales Tax line. The return will calculate the tax due based on the gross sales and food service tax sales that you input. In the example below the vendor sold $1000 worth of food and beverages.

Make payment

After you click Submit and then Next you will be taken to the payment page where you will select the payment option you would like.

We recommend ACH Debit, where you can type in your banking information and instantly pay.
For check payment you will need to print the voucher in step 9 to mail in with the check.
For credit card payment you will be emailed a link to our 3rd party site where you can pay by card.

Note: There is a processing fee for credit card payments.

Choose your payment type. The city recommends ACH Debit.

For check payment you will need to print the voucher in step 9 to mail in with the check.

Confirm submission

Confirm your submission by typing in your email address twice. Click the OK button.

Print Return

The final page will give you an option to print a copy of your return, along with a payment voucher if you did not pay immediately by ACH Debit.

Click on Printable View button so you can download, save and print a copy of the return for your records.