The 15% retail marijuana excise tax
Colorado imposes a 15% excise tax on the first transfer of unprocessed retail marijuana from a cultivation facility, calculated against the Average Market Rate the Department of Revenue publishes quarterly for each product category — flower, trim, wet whole plant and immature plant — unless the transfer is a negotiated arm's-length sale between unrelated parties, in which case the actual transaction price applies instead.
We track which AMR category applies to each transfer, apply the correct quarterly rate, and reconcile excise tax due against what was actually remitted so a rate change mid-quarter never slips through uncalculated.
The 15% retail marijuana sales tax and the 2.9% medical rate
Retail sales of adult-use marijuana carry a 15% state retail marijuana sales tax, while sales to registered medical marijuana patients are instead subject to Colorado's standard 2.9% state sales tax. Point-of-sale systems that don't separate these two revenue streams correctly create sales tax returns that don't reconcile — and an eventual liability the business, not the customer, has to absorb.
We build and maintain the revenue account structure that keeps adult-use and medical sales cleanly separated from the register through to your monthly or quarterly DR 0100 filing.
Local marijuana taxes
Many Colorado municipalities and counties impose their own additional marijuana sales tax or excise tax on top of the state rates, and rates and filing frequency vary by jurisdiction — Denver, Aurora, Boulder and Pueblo each have their own local marijuana tax structure and licensing authority requirements. We track the local rate and filing calendar for every jurisdiction where you operate.
Filing calendar and reconciliation
We prepare and file your state DR 0100 sales tax returns, excise tax remittances and any applicable local marijuana tax filings on the correct schedule for your filing frequency, then reconcile total tax remitted for the period against your books so your annual income tax return and your monthly tax filings never disagree with each other.
- Quarterly Average Market Rate tracking by product category
- Excise tax calculation and remittance on cultivation transfers
- DR 0100 retail sales tax and medical sales tax filing
- Local marijuana tax filings by Colorado jurisdiction
