Sabrix

On Friday, Colorado House Bill HB10-1193 was introduced and referred to the Appropriations Committee. HB10-1193, much like the bills introduced recently in Virginia, New Mexico and Mississippi, would create a so-called "Amazon" or affiliate tax in Colorado by expanding the activities which create sales tax nexus with the state. Similar to other recently proposed legislation HB10-1193 would create a  presumption that any out-of-state retailer that has a referral relationship with an affiliate has an obligation to collect sales tax. The bill specifies that the presumption may be rebutted by the out-of-state retailer if the retailer can show that the affiliate with whom the retailer has such a relationship did not engage in active solicitation.

If the bill passes, Colorado is apparently serious about their intent to enforce it. Section 2 of the bill states that, "for purposes of any efforts to collect use tax, the executive director of the department of revenue may issue a subpoena to any out-of-state retailer if the out-of-state retailer refuses to voluntarily furnish specific information when requested and may take the out-of-state retailer's testimony under oath".

The bill, if passed, will take effect on March 1 of this year.

Update 2/11/2010: HB-1193 is back in the House after being approved by the Senate. Because the bill was changed in the Senate the House must vote on it again. If the changes are approved the bill will go to the Governor who will most likely sign it.

Update 2/16/2010: The House approved the Senate amendments and repassed HB-1193 in a 34-31 vote. The bill now goes to the governor to be signed.

Update 3/1/2010: The Colorado Internet sales tax will take effect on March 1, 2010. As expected,  Governor Bill Ritter signed HB1193 on February 23rd. The final version of the bill is available HERE.