DENVER (KDVR) — State lawmakers are on their second day of the special legislative session. Senators are already passing bills out of their chamber, as the House continues its first day of debate on measures on Friday evening.
So how does the work they’re doing impact your everyday life? FOX31 spoke with a tax expert to find out.
State lawmakers are moving some things around to fill that budget gap, and a tax expert says the impacts could go deeper than most people are expecting.
“I’ve been practicing in Colorado for 17 years. This is the first special session I’ve paid attention to. It’s really important because this one really impacts my primary practice area, which is tax,” said Kelly Politte.
She specializes in tax law at Hall Estill. She is advising businesses and taxpayers to watch what arises out of this year’s special legislative session as lawmakers look to make up a $1.2 billion revenue loss by ending some state tax breaks for Colorado businesses.
One of those breaks is a 4% rebate businesses in Colorado get for calculating their sales taxes. Lawmakers feel it is not necessary anymore. There is another measure that would end income tax deductions for some sole proprietorships.
“Taxpayers, pay attention to what is going on. And keep in mind businesses will definitely being facing some impact as result of this. It’s probably better now to get ahead of it and find out how they will need to comply. I do see there being a situation where businesses aren’t necessarily aware of the changes immediately and could mess up on filing sales taxes,” Politte said.
“In terms of taxes overall, I think you can expect that if businesses’ tax rates go up in any way, shape, or form, this will ultimately flow through to consumers because businesses will be looking at how to offset the additional taxes they pay or the cuts they are facing on deductions,” Politte added.
Lawmakers also want to use some reserve dollars and they’re calling on Governor Jared Polis to make deeper budget cuts. Senators passed a new bill that would require the governor to consult with members of the state’s Joint Budget Committee before making any cuts via executive order. Politte said the cuts they make could ultimately impact things people use daily.
“Services may be the ones that first see cuts. Sometimes that has to do with parks and recreation. That’s what Denver did because they were spending so much on other items that were deemed essential, they cut the items they did not see as being essential. That included parks and recreation and DMV hours. Colorado is expected to make some of the same cuts,” said Politte.
FOX31 reached out to Governor Polis’ office about that bill. His office said he is supportive of updating the current law to support current budget realities.
Anthony Sutton is a business strategist and writer with a passion for management, leadership, and entrepreneurship. With years of experience in the corporate world, he shares insights on business growth, strategy, and innovation through management-opleiding.org.
