We’re a little more than one week into the legislative session, and the bills that are initially grabbing the attention of the Denver Metro Chamber mostly deal with taxes. It is tax season after all.
As we heard at the Business Legislative Preview Breakfast on Jan. 10, legislators say they are focused on making Colorado more affordable this session. House Bill 1051 would extend and put more weight behind the affordable housing tax credit, formerly known as the low-income housing tax credit, which has helped developers build affordable housing in Colorado for years. Under the program, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority may allocate income taxes of as much as $10 million through 2024. This bipartisan legislation, brought forward by Rep. Shannon Bird (D-Westminster), House Minority Leader Hugh McKean (R-Loveland), Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D-Aurora) and Sen. Dennis Hisey (R-Fountain), would increase the allocation to $15 million and extend the program through 2034.
The Chamber supports this legislation, because we recognize that the lack of affordable workforce housing slows Colorado’s economic growth, undermines our ability to attract and retain talent, and poses a significant challenge to employees across the state – all issues that we are committed to solving through our work on Prosper CO. The affordable housing tax credit is a proven, effective and efficient solution to this problem, and we support the expansion and continuation of this program.
Here are the other tax-related bills we support.
- House Bill 1026 offers employers an income tax credit for providing alternative transportation options for their employees. This approach incentivizes and aids employers in providing alternative transportation options for their employees. We support incentives that help employers provide these types of benefits to their employees, which also help reduce congestion on our roadways and improve our state’s air quality and environment.
- House Bill 1027 allows small retailers with less than $100,000 in retail sales to source their sales to the business’ location regardless of where the purchaser receives the product. This bill extends rules, originally set to expire in February, to October. We supported this bill in 2021 to simplify and develop a sales tax system that serves the interests of Colorado businesses, and we support the extension of this bill this year.
- House Bill 1039 requires the Department of Revenue to examine and simplify the forms and requirements for businesses to qualify for the sales-and-use tax exemption. Colorado has one of the most complicated sales-and-use tax systems in the country, with over 550 jurisdictions that levy sales taxes, and we support this bill for the same reason we support House Bill 1027 – simplifying our sales tax system better serves Colorado businesses.
- Senate Bill 006 allows retailers who make $100,000 or less in taxable sales to retain 5.3% of their reported sales tax in 2023, an increase from the 4% currently allowed by law. By increasing the amount of sales tax small businesses can keep, this bill would allow businesses to keep more of the money they collect rather than sending it to the state. While the increase is minimal, for businesses, especially small retailers, every dollar retained helps keep doors open.
We are also opposing House Bill 1018 related to electric and gas utilities, unless amendments are made. While the Chamber supports certain aspects of this bill, we believe unrealistic timeline mandates placed upon both residents and utility providers create complex logistic requirements for both parties.
Visit our current legislation page to see all our positions throughout the session.
Questions or concerns? Contact our Public Affairs team.
