As a home rule city, the licensing and tax structure in Golden may differ from other communities, so please contact us If you have questions or need clarification on any issue.
Apply for a Sales And Use Tax License
Remittance and Due Dates
Taxes and fees collected are due to the City on or before the 20th day of the month following the reporting period. Please see each listing for additional requirements.
Tax Refunds
A request for refund must be made within three years from the date of overpayment. The claim for a refund must include adequate documentation of the basis for the claim.
Tax Rates
Sales Tax
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Use Tax
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City of Golden: 3%
Jefferson County: 0.5%
State of Colorado: 4%
Combined Rate: 7.5%
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City of Golden: 3%
Rate: 3%
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Payment Note
All payments of city tax should be made directly to the City of Golden. State and county taxes are collected by the State of Colorado.
City Taxes
Building Use Tax
In the City of Golden, all construction projects requiring a building permit are subject to a building use tax:
- Tax Calculation: The cost of construction materials, estimated to be half of the project's total valuation, is taxed at a rate of 3%. This tax is due when the permit is issued, streamlining the process and eliminating the need for city sales tax on these materials at the point of purchase, provided the permit is shown to the seller.
- Permit as Prepayment: The building permit fee includes a prepayment of this use tax, based on your project's estimated costs.
- Reconciliation Process: Upon project completion, a reconciliation may lead to either additional payment to the City or a refund to you, depending on the actual cost of materials used versus the initial estimate. This process ensures fairness and accuracy in taxation.
- Record Keeping: Contractors are required to maintain all relevant invoices and statements from general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, along with a summary of purchases for three years after receiving the certificate of occupancy. This documentation is crucial for potential audits.
Visit our
Building Permit Process page for additional information on applying for a building permit.
Lodging Tax
The City of Golden has a 6% tax on all overnight commercial lodging stays. The Lodging Tax is in addition to the City of Golden Sales Tax of 3%.
Lodging Tax may be paid online, or by filling out a remittance form:
View
Ordinance 2170–Lodging Tax for information on exemptions.
Retail Marijuana Sales Tax
The City of Golden has a 6% tax on all retail marijuana sales. The Retail Marijuana Tax is in addition to the City of Golden Sales Tax of 3%.
Marijuana Tax should be separately reported on the Marijuana Tax Form.
Sales Tax
The City of Golden has a 3% sales tax, which must be collected on all sales, leases and rentals of items in Golden, including items delivered into the city.
Taxable Items & Services
Transactions that are taxable in Golden but may be taxed differently by the State of Colorado and other Colorado jurisdictions include such things as:
- Telecommunications services (local telephone and cell phone calls)
- Installation of equipment required to receive or transmit telecommunications service
- Gas and electric for residential and most commercial consumption
- All food sales
- Cover charges
- Hotel, motel, and short-term Rental lodging services shorter than 30 days
- Cable TV
- Items dispensed from vending machines
- Fabrication labor
Sales Tax Exemptions
All exempt sales must be properly documented.
- Professional services, such as accounting and legal
- Sales of certain prescriptions and certain medical supplies (as defined by Municipal Code Chapter 3.03.040)
- Cigarettes
- Motor fuels
- Wholesale transactions
- Sales to charitable organizations
- Labor is not taxable if separately state on invoices (excluding fabrication labor)
Golden tax should not be collected if an item sold is delivered outside the city limits. You should contact the city where the item is delivered to determine if you need to collect that city’s tax. Be careful not to rely on mailing addresses to decide which tax to collect; mailing addresses do not always correspond to the city boundaries. Use the Jefferson County Address Lookup Tool to verify addresses within Golden city limits (scroll to the bottom of the address listing page to “Municipal Status”).
Whenever merchandise is delivered outside of city limits, it must be clearly stated on the invoice.
Fees
Clear Creek Outfitter Permit Fees
All water sports outfitters conducting commercial operations within the City of Golden (e.g. renting tubes and other equipment), must obtain a permit, and pay both an initial permitting fee as well as a tube rental fee.
- Permit Fee: City Council has determined a set permit fee (see application for current fee) that you'll need to pay to receive your operating permit.
- Tube Rental Fee: For every customer who rents a tube from you to use on Clear Creek, you'll owe the city 5% of what you make from those tube rentals. This includes any packages that come with a tube rental.
- When to Pay: You'll pay this tube rental fee at the same time you pay your sales tax to the City.
- Use of the Fees: The money collected from these fees will go towards improving Clear Creek, including projects to make it better, keeping an eye on the area, and enforcing rules.
- Learn more: Municipal Code Chapter 5.20.030
- Apply for a Permit: Clear Creek Outfitter Permit Application
Single Use Plastic Bag Fee
Per Colorado HB21-1162, stores and retail food establishments (with some exemptions) are prohibited from providing single-use plastic carryout bags or polystyrene food containers to customers, but may instead provide a recycled paper carryout bag to a customer at the point of sale for a $0.10 fee per bag used. The single-use bag fee is not a tax and none of the proceeds can be used for other non-related government expenses.
The bag fee CANNOT be included as revenue for the purposes of calculating sales tax to the customer.
- Business Exemptions: Certain business are exempted from collecting a bag fee, including:
- Smaller stores with three or fewer locations in Colorado
- Farmers and roadside markets
- Laundry or dry-cleaning services
- Pharmacies
- Bulk stores
- Customer Exemptions: Customers who provide proof-of-participation in a federal or state food assistance program such as SNAP or EBT are exempt from paying the fee.
- How much and when to pay: Businesses will retain $0.04 of the fee to cover the costs of administration and compliance while $0.06 is to be remitted to the City on a quarterly basis via the Disposable Bag Fee Return Form.
- Account or License: A new account or license is not needed for the Bag Fee requirement.
- Unincorporated JeffCo Businesses: Businesses with a Golden mailing address but located outside of city limits in unincorporated Jefferson County should remit their bag fee to the Jefferson County Finance Department.
- Fee Revenue Use: The City of Golden will use the revenue from the bag fee to fund the following:
- Administrative or enforcement costs associated with developing and implementing the fee
- Educating residents, businesses, and visitors about the impacts of disposable bags
- Other waste reduction, recycling, composting, or waste diversion programs
- Monitoring Bag Use: A store must record the number of single-use bags and the total amount of fees charged for each bag on a customer’s receipt.
