Colorado · Sales tax registration
Colorado sales tax license application, done for you.
Colorado charges the same license to a business inside the state and a retailer selling in from outside, so there is no separate remote-seller registration to choose. What catches people is everything around it. The fee depends on which half of which year you apply in, a new account carries a $50 deposit on top, the license expires at the end of every odd-numbered year, and the state license does not cover home-rule cities, which license their own.
Last updated:
Who you are dealing with
Colorado Department of Revenue
- Handles:
- The state sales tax license, covering state and state-administered jurisdictions only
- System:
- MyBizColorado, then Revenue Online
- Form:
- One location can apply through MyBizColorado. Two or more locations must use the CR 0100, the Sales Tax / Wage Withholding Account Application. Renewals run through Revenue Online
Home-rule cities, each licensing separately
- Handles:
- Their own city sales tax license, which the state license does not provide. The Department publishes the list of home-rule cities as DR 1002
- System:
- Each city's own system
- Form:
- Set by the individual city. The Department's instruction is to contact the city for its license requirements
Home-rule cities, each licensing separately, sales tax registration
State fee. Colorado prorates the license fee against the two-year cycle, so what you pay depends on when you apply: $16.00 from January to June of an even-numbered year, $12.00 from July to December of an even-numbered year, $8.00 from January to June of an odd-numbered year, and $4.00 from July to December of an odd-numbered year. On top of that a new account carries a $50 deposit, remitted with the CR 0100, so the Department's own worked example is a new account with one physical location totalling $66. The deposit is refunded automatically once the business has collected and paid $50 in state sales tax, it is not deducted on a return, and it is only required on the first location. Renewal is $16 per physical location. All state fees are passed through at cost.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you have to register
A business inside Colorado needs the license before making retail sales. A retailer with no Colorado location is treated differently by size. Under $100,000 of retail sales into Colorado in both the current and the previous calendar year, Colorado exempts you from licensing and collecting, but it substitutes three notice duties: a Transactional Notice to Colorado purchasers, an Annual Purchase Summary to them by January 31, and an Annual Customer Information Report to the Department by March 1. Over $100,000, you must obtain the license and begin collecting by the first day of the first month commencing at least 90 days after your Colorado sales in the current year passed $100,000. If the previous year passed $100,000, you are in for the whole calendar year. Whether your sales are taxable and which of these applies to you is a question for your CPA, and we take the answer and file the license.
What comes next
Not applicable to an application, and Colorado's real deadline runs the other way. Every license expires at the end of each odd-numbered year, so the current two-year period began on January 1, 2026 and ends on December 31, 2027. Renewal is $16 per physical location through Revenue Online, and paying alone does not renew it. A lapsed license is not a dormant account, it is a business collecting tax without a current license.
How long it takes
Colorado publishes no turnaround for issuing the license itself. MyBizColorado is the faster route for a single location, and a business with two or more locations is on the CR 0100 whatever the timing. We file early enough that the license is in place before you need to collect.
What we do
We work out which accounts you need, submit each registration, and hand you the account numbers, rates, and deposit schedules your payroll system asks for. One flat price per state, and any state fee passed through at cost. You keep the client. We never email them.
What makes Colorado harder than average
- The fee depends on when you apply, and there is a deposit nobody mentions. Colorado prorates against the two-year cycle, so the same license is $16, $12, $8 or $4 depending on the half-year you file in. A new account also owes a $50 deposit with the CR 0100. Quotes that name a single Colorado license fee are quoting one cell of a four-cell table and leaving out the deposit.
- The license expires on a calendar, not on your anniversary. Every Colorado license expires at the end of each odd-numbered year, so a license bought in late 2027 expires within months. Every prior license expired on December 31, 2025 and the current period ends December 31, 2027.
- The state license does not cover home-rule cities. It covers state and state-administered jurisdictions only. A home-rule city licenses its own, so a business selling into Denver or Boulder has more to do after the state license lands. The Department's list of them is DR 1002.
- Being under the threshold is not the same as having nothing to do. A remote retailer under $100,000 in both the current and previous year is exempt from licensing, and picks up three notice obligations instead, one of which is a report to the Department by March 1. The exemption swaps one duty for another.
- Crossing $100,000 starts a clock, not an immediate obligation. Collection begins on the first day of the first month commencing at least 90 days after you pass the threshold, which is a genuine grace period and easy to misread in both directions.
How Colorado compares
If Colorado is one of several states on the list, the order you register in changes what each one asks for.
Questions and answers
How much does the Colorado license cost?
It depends on when you apply. $16.00 in the first half of an even-numbered year, $12.00 in the second half, $8.00 in the first half of an odd-numbered year, and $4.00 in the second half. A new account also pays a $50 deposit, which Colorado refunds automatically once you have collected and paid $50 in state sales tax. The Department's own example of a new account with one location is $66 all in.
I sell into Colorado from another state. Do I need this?
It turns on $100,000 of retail sales into Colorado. Above it you need the license and must start collecting, on a clock that begins at least 90 days after you crossed. Below it, in both the current and the previous calendar year, Colorado exempts you from the license but expects three customer and Department notices instead. A CPA is the right person to confirm which side you are on.
Does the state license cover Denver?
No. Denver is a home-rule city and licenses its own sales tax. The state license covers state and state-administered jurisdictions only. Tell us which Colorado cities you sell into and we will tell you which ones license separately.
When does it need renewing?
Colorado licenses expire at the end of each odd-numbered year. The current two-year period runs from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027. Renewal is $16 for each physical location, through Revenue Online, and making a payment on its own does not renew it.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, entity type, every Colorado location you sell from, which Colorado cities you sell into, the date retail sales begin or the date you crossed $100,000, and whether you also need a wage withholding account, since the CR 0100 opens both.
Also in Colorado
Agency details verified 2026-08-09
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.