HB 24-1053

House Bill 24-1053 changes how the state auditor evaluates tax policies in Colorado. It requires the auditor to publish reports earlier, on June 30 instead of September 15, and gives more flexibility for when and how often certain tax evaluations are conducted. The bill also mandates that the auditor study federal tax laws annually and report findings by June 30 each year starting from 2025. This affects how state taxes are analyzed and can influence future policy decisions. Since it has been signed into law, these changes are now in effect as of June 4, 2024.

Official Summary

The act makes the following changes to the state auditor's procedures for evaluating state tax expenditures: Requires the state auditor deliver and post evaluation reports on June 30 instead of September 15; Allows the state auditor to evaluate new tax expenditures in accordance with the state auditor's schedule; Allows the state auditor to use discretion in deciding whether to reevaluate a tax expenditure if there have been substantial changes to the tax expenditure; Eliminates the evaluation requirement for tax expenditures that are on the state auditor's schedule for evaluation but have been repealed or will repeal within one year of the evaluation; Requires the state auditor to make the state auditor's best effort to prepare the evaluation report for tax expenditures that are in effect for 3 years or less using the best available data; Allows the state auditor to modify the schedule for evaluating tax expenditures in consideration of timing for when sufficient data may be available to evaluate the tax expenditure; and Requires the office of the state auditor to present its tax expenditure evaluation reports to the task force concerning tax policy (task force) upon request by the task force. The act also requires that the state auditor annually study and evaluate federal tax law, including changes, that may significantly impact the state's tax base and prepare a report with the state auditor's findings by June 30, 2025, and by June 30 of each year thereafter. The act requires the legislative oversight committee concerning tax policy (committee) to consider the policy considerations set forth in the state auditor's annual report concerning federal tax law in addition to the policy considerations set forth in the state auditor's tax expenditure evaluations. The state auditor is required to present to the task force the annual report concerning federal tax law upon request by the task force. Additionally, the act allows for the committee to request that the state auditor evaluate specific tax expenditures for the next year's evaluation report notwithstanding when the tax expenditure might otherwise be evaluated according to the state auditor's schedule. The committee may additionally request that the state auditor perform specific and discrete research and analysis tasks. The act also extends the committee and the task force until December 31, 2031. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 4, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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