SB 23-143

Senate Bill 23-143, also known as the Retail Delivery Fees bill, modifies how retailers handle delivery fees for goods sold in Colorado. Under this new law, retailers can now pay these delivery fees directly on behalf of their customers without adding them to the purchase price or collecting them from buyers. Additionally, small businesses with less than $500,000 in annual sales are exempted from these fees entirely. The bill was signed into law by Governor Polis and took effect on May 4, 2023, meaning that retailers and customers should already be following the new rules regarding retail delivery fees.

Official Summary

Currently, the state and several state enterprises impose fees on retail sales of taxable tangible personal property delivered by motor vehicle to a location in the state. These fees are collectively known as the retail delivery fee (RDF), and a retailer who makes a retail delivery is required to add the RDF to the price of the retail delivery, collect it from the purchaser, and pay the RDF revenue to the department of revenue (department), which distributes the revenue to the appropriate cash funds. The department generally administers the RDF in the same manner as the state sales and use tax. The act modifies this administration by permitting a retailer to pay the RDF on behalf of the purchaser. If the retailer elects to pay the RDF, then the retailer is: Not required to add the RDF to the price of the retail delivery, separately itemize the RDF, or collect the RDF from the purchaser, who is not liable or the amount nor eligible for a refund of an erroneously paid RDF; and Required to remit the RDF on the date that would be required if the RDF had been received from the purchaser on the date of the retail delivery. The department is required to waive any processing costs for a retailer's electronic payment by automated clearing house (ACH) debit of the RDF if the charges would exceed the amount of the RDF revenue being remitted. The act creates an exemption from the RDF for a retail delivery by a qualified business, which is a business that has $500,000 or less of retail sales in the prior year or is new, that applies retroactively to when RDFs were first imposed. A purchaser is not eligible for a refund of any RDF that is collected and remitted to the department by a qualified business prior to the effective date of the act. The act also creates a primary definition for "retail delivery" that is cross-referenced in other RDF provisions, and related to this change, a definition of "retail sale" is repealed where the cross reference makes it unnecessary. APPROVED by Governor May 4, 2023 EFFECTIVE May 4, 2023 (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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