A Business License is required for any business operating in Boulder. The application can be submitted on Boulder's Online Tax System.
The City of Boulder is considered a home-rule city, meaning it administers Boulder sales tax separately from the State of Colorado. Therefore, all businesses engaged in business in the city must have a City of Boulder business license.
Those engaged in business in the City of BoulderThe Boulder Revised Code defines engaged in business in the city as: performing or providing services, or selling, leasing, renting, delivering, or installing tangible personal property for storage, use, or consumption within the city.
Engaged in business in the city includes, without limitation, any one of the following activities by a person:
(a) Directly, indirectly, or by a subsidiary, maintaining a building, store, office, salesroom, warehouse, or other place of business within the city;
(b) Sending one or more employees, agents, or commissioned sales persons into the city to solicit business or to install, assemble, repair, service, or assist in the use of its products, or for demonstration, or for any other reason;
(c) Maintaining one or more employees, agents, or commissioned sales persons on duty at a location within the city;
(d) Owning, leasing, renting, or otherwise exercising control over real or personal property within the city; or
(e) Making more than one delivery into the city within a twelve-month period by any means other than a common carrier.’
.(f) Who is a retailer or vendor in the state of Colorado making more than one delivery into the city within a twelve month period; or
(g) Making retail sales sufficient to meet the definitional requirements of economic nexus.
The Boulder Revised Code defines Person as:
“A natural person, corporation, firm, partnership, association, organization and any other group acting as a unit, as well as individuals. It also includes an executor, administrator, trustee, receiver or other representative appointed according to law. Whenever the word person is used in any provision of this code prescribing a penalty or fine as to partnership or associations, the word includes the partners or members thereof, and as to corporations, includes the officers, agents or members thereof who are responsible for any violation of such section. Person includes the plural as well as the singular.” (1-2-1 – B.R.C., 1981)
Businesses physically located in BoulderThe City of Boulder Revised Code requires that all types of businesses physically located in Boulder be licensed and approved by the City before operating, regardless of whether the business makes sales of taxable property or services. If a business has more than one location in the city, each location needs a separate license.
Please keep in mind that a City of Boulder Business License comes with a tax filing requirement. There is always a tax filing requirement even if tax due is $0. The City of Boulder presumes tax liability unless it receives a tax return indicating otherwise.
Under the "Registration" header, click "Complete a Business License Application"
The City of Boulder has a Special Event Taxpayer license available, so that you can register for the specific event you’re attending and can file your tax return right after the event ends. The registration and return process is streamlined for businesses who are only briefly in the City. Businesses who are based in the City of Boulder or who regularly do business in the City of Boulder for reasons other than special events, such as soliciting future business, do not qualify for the Special Event Taxpayer License and instead need a regular business license.
Please note that even if no sales will be made, if you are a business or organization attending or sponsoring a special event, a license is still required.
Under the "Registration" header, click "Register for a Special Event"
We update the list of special events that are available based on information received from the event organizers.
Even if the business is considered 501(c)(3) tax exempt, sales tax must be collected and remitted on any sales made.
Detailed information on many tax topics is available in the form of Tax Regulations.
The City of Boulder requires that all businesses conducting business in Boulder, taxable or not, have this license. This includes service-based businesses.
Please refer to the City Manager Rule which establishing minimum requirements for an Application of a Sales and Use Tax (Business License) or Exempt Institution License for additional information: 3-17-3.A(19) - Establishing minimum requirements for an application for a Sales and Use Tax License or an Exempt Institution License
Remote sellers without physical nexusEffective October 1, 2021, the City of Boulder adopted Ordinance No 8457 establishing an economic nexus standard for remote sellers. This ordinance was developed by home rule municipal tax professionals, in conjunction with the business community and the Colorado Department of Revenue, as part of a sales tax simplification effort.
Economic Nexus requires remote sellers with no physical nexus in Boulder to collect and remit sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property, commodities, and/or services. Economic nexus levels the playing field between brick-and-mortar retail stores and remote sellers and shifts the responsibility of remitting tax on online sales from the purchasers of goods and services to the retailer.
Please see our Guidance for Remote Sellers page for more information.
