1. City and County of Denver
We have several introductory seminars designed for individuals with little or no tax experience. We want to provide you with enough information, because we want you to succeed and be a profitable taxpayer doing business in the City and County of Denver.
Introductory Business Tax Seminar

2. Goals Increase Compliance With Denver’s Tax Laws And Procedures.
Provide Sources Of Information & Guidance.
Ensure Taxes Are Filed Correctly The First Time.
During these short videos we would like to
-provide you with a better understanding of Denver’s taxes and how to comply with Denver’s tax laws and procedures.
-provide sources of information and resources, as well as creating a relationship for the future so that when new issues arise you will know who to call or where to go for answers
-ensure that you have enough information so that you do things correctly.

3. Home Rule City Denver has its own laws, rules and regulations.
Denver is its own county.
Any taxes owed to Denver must be paid to Denver.
This presentation addresses only Denver’s Laws and Rules.
Denver, like many of the major cities along the Front Range, is a Home Rule City. This means Denver is allowed to make its own laws, rules, and regulations. Denver is also its own county. Any taxes owed to Denver must be paid to Denver, not the State of Colorado or another city. Denver’s tax laws may not be the same as the State and other cities, therefore the tax treatment of certain situations may result in different outcomes.
This presentation covers only Denver tax laws and rules. Please check with other city’s ordinances if you are conducting business in their jurisdictions.

4. Resources Resources www.denvergov.org/treasury Dial 311
Colorado Dept of Revenue – Current Tax Rates, by Jurisdiction. Website address:
The City’s website is This website provides information on taxes as well as other City topics. By putting the forward slash and the word treasury, you will be able to obtain information at the Treasury’s website such as: forms, telephone numbers, frequently Asked Questions, and telephone numbers for specific agencies.
311 – Provides operators who have access to and can answer most general tax information questions. They will refer you to someone else if unable to provide answers themselves.
Current tax rates, by taxing jurisdiction, are available at the Colorado Department of Revenue’s website.

5. Treasury Website www.denvergov.org
Highlighted in Green is a link titled Contact Us where you can find phone numbers and addresses of Treasury employees
Highlighted in red on this screen is the link to Business Tax Information.
Click on the Business Tax Information to review Links to the Tax Guide, links to the Denver Revised Municipal Code, and link to the Tax Rules. The Tax guide is a reference that describes various tax topics in easy to understand terms.

6. Treasury Website www.denvergov.org
We now have online tax filing. To learn more click on get started.

7. Denver’s eBiz Tax Center
If you have signed up already, you can just log in.
For New User Registration
Sign up for online access now
Register a new business
Keep in mind that if you already have an account with Denver; to register you need a letter from for an access code. If you don’t have a letter, you can request one on this site.
Now we are going to look at what you can do while in ebiz.

8. Denver’s eBiz Tax Center
What Can I Do In Denver’s eBiz Tax Center
File Returns
Make Payments via Electronic Check or Credit Card
Manage Tax Accounts
Add Third Party Access
Update Addresses
Claim a Refund
View Status of Refund
While in ebiz you can
-File Returns
-Make Payments via electronic check or credit card (for a small fee)
-Manage Tax accounts
-Add Third Party Access
-Update your taxpayer information
-Request a claim for refund
-View status of a refund
You can file a return online and still mail in the payment.
For additional information watch for our ebiz videos which are coming soon.

9. Treasury Website www.denvergov.org www.denvergov.org
Now lets return to Business Taxes – The City and County of Denver administers and collects several different business taxes. While the web page is in alphabetical order the first tax type we will discuss is sales tax.
-The Denver Revised Municipal Code (DRMC) imposes a 3.62% sales tax on the purchase price paid or charged on retail sales, leases, or rentals of tangible personal property, and on certain services.  Taxable services include, but are not limited to, the sale or furnishing of telephone and certain telecommunications services, electricity, steam and natural gas for energy producing purposes, informational, and entertainment services. The DRMC imposes special tax rates for the following sales at retail:
-A four percent (4%) tax is imposed on the sale of food and beverages not exempt by ordinance.
-A four cent ($0.04) per gallon tax is imposed on the sale of aviation fuel.
-A seven and one quarter percent (7.25%) tax is imposed on the rental of automotive vehicles for a period of thirty (30) days or less.
-Consumer Use Tax is imposed on tangible personal property – generally furniture, fixtures, equipment, and supplies (not inventory) that is used, stored, distributed or consumed within Denver upon which local sales tax equal to or greater than Denver’s rate has not been paid.
Denver occupational privilege tax is also known as OPT or head tax.  The occupational privilege tax consists of two distinct parts: the employee occupational privilege tax and the business occupational privilege tax.  The tax is imposed on businesses operating in the City and on individuals who perform sufficient services within Denver to receive as compensation from an employer at least five hundred dollars ($500) for a calendar month. Each taxable employee is liable for the employee OPT, which is withheld by the employer at a rate of $5.75 per month.  The employer is also required to pay the business OPT at a rate of $4.00 per month for each taxable employee. 
These are some of the taxes collected by the City and County of Denver. We have several small videos to help you understand most of them.
The rest we will mention briefly, so that you at least know they exist. If they apply to you, you can get additional information from any of the links on this web page.
We are going to go into the Tax Guide, Rules & Ordinances, to provide an example of what you can find.

10. Treasury Website www.denvergov.org
On this web page you will find Hyperlinks in blue. If you follow the hyperlinks you will find the Denver Revised Municipal Code, The Denver Tax Rules, and a General Tax Information and Reference Guide.
We are going to show you a Tax Guide Topic for Reference on the next page.

11. Treasury Website Sample Topic www.denvergov.org
We have selected Sales tax as our sample tax guide topic. Each topic gives an overview and includes examples. It also shows the DRMC reference(s) that it discusses.
These are guides only and are not the law. Please refer to the DRMC Sections at the bottom for the actual law.

12. In Summary
Please review additional videos on the various tax types we have mentioned during this short introductory presentation.
This concludes our tax introduction. Please review our various tax videos to get a better understanding of what your role as a taxpayer is.