Monthly Archives: January 2025

Jan 28

Coloradans must opt in for TABOR refunds when filing taxes

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DENVER (KDVR) — Monday marked the first day the IRS could start accepting and processing your tax return.

Colorado filers need to keep an eye out for one key step to make sure they get all the money they are eligible for back in their wallets.

Coloradans are set to get TABOR refunds after they file their taxes this year, but the state is reminding residents that they have to opt in.

The Colorado Department of Revenue is hoping to help taxpayers make sure they get as much money back as they can when they file their taxes this year.

“Unfortunately, if you didn’t check that box for your taxes you filed in 2024 for tax year 2023, you did miss out on your tabor refund,” said Elisabeth Kosar, communications director for the Colorado Department of Revenue. “TABOR is something you need to opt into so please, please check that box or again have whoever is preparing your taxes check that box.” Continue reading →

Jan 20

Herman: Colorado’s over-spending problem explained

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Herman: Colorado’s over-spending problem explained

January 19, 2025 By Nash Herman

Colorado legislators are discovering first-hand the impossibility of having their cake and eating it too.

The Joint Budget Committee continues to meet with dozens of departments to reconcile an approximately $750 million budget shortfall in 2025, with some absurdly claiming that deficit is purely a result of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) at work.

Granted, it does sounds bizarre that the state must make budget cuts in a year that it is still expected to collect a surplus of revenue beyond what is allowed by TABOR. But by looking at the facts, anyone can come to see how the so-called budget “crisis” is actually a self-inflicted wound from the legislature’s relentless over-spending.

Having their cake 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Colorado received a windfall of federal funds to prop up the state economy and boost recovery.  To fund that massive stimulus, the federal government printed money, causing an increased supply of dollars chasing the same number of goods.  This in turn lead to the dollar being worth less, also known as inflation. Continue reading →

Jan 09

Gonzalez: Colorado’s TABOR Amendment serving taxpayers well

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Gonzalez: Colorado’s TABOR Amendment serving taxpayers well

January 7, 2025 By Rep. Ryan Gonzalez

In 1992, Colorado voters passed the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, the nation’s strongest tax limitation law to this day. For those who are unfamiliar what TABOR really does, this amendment to the Colorado Constitution allows government spending to reasonably increase using a formula of population growth plus inflation. Excess revenue, known as the “TABOR surplus,” must be refunded to taxpayers. If state government wants to keep the surplus, or raise taxes, voters must approve. That is exactly why progressives abhor TABOR. But the truth is, a little north of 60% of Colorado voters approve of TABOR.

Many progressives have made their disdain for TABOR be known, having tried time and time again to chip away at TABOR’s taxpayer protections. And in many ways, they’ve done so; mostly by adding tax credits which pull from the TABOR surplus. They’ve done so by giving everyone equal tax refunds and redistributing wealth; taking from those who paid the most in state taxes and giving more to those who paid little.

In 2022, the Democrat majority, just before a critical midterm election, gave taxpayers what they called the “Colorado cash back” in disguise as a “stimulus” check. What they didn’t tell you is that it was actually your TABOR refund, just early and proportioned against historical distribution. Continue reading →