The Colorado Department of Revenue is creating a new online system to help companies manage sales and use tax responsibilities. Colorado’s home rule system allows jurisdictions to issue their own tax laws, which creates a challenge for businesses that complete projects in multiple jurisdictions
Related: 4 sales tax traps for Colorado businesses
The new Sales and Use Tax System (SUTS) uses a geographic information system to show users the tax breakdown for different products and services at a particular address. It provides businesses with:
- A single platform and uniform document for paying owed sales and use tax
- A taxability and exemption matrix to help determine whether they owe tax
- The ability to calculate tax rates on items within the same jurisdiction that are taxed differently
- A record of any changes
SUTS was created by SB 19-002, which called for “an electronic sales and use tax simplification system.” Businesses with a state sales tax license will be able to use the system.
Participation for municipalities is voluntary, and some home rule jurisdictions in Colorado are not participating. A list of participating municipalities can be seen on the SUTS website.
The tool is currently in a soft launch phase, and no date for a full launch has been announced yet. Daniel Carr, taxation communications manager, said the enrollment process is ongoing.
“At this time, we are still in the process of enrolling many of the home rule jurisdictions into the Sales and Use Tax System (SUTS) and do not have a hard launch date as of yet. The launch date will be dependent on how quickly we can get all of the home rule jurisdictions onboard,” he said by email.
Danielle Andrus was previously the managing editor for Colorado Builder, and is currently Editor for the Journal of Financial Planning.
