Treasury Division
Special Event Tax Information
If you will be participating in a special event in Denver, and will be making retail sales, a Denver Special Event Sales Tax License is required. The Special Event License fee is $5.00. If you are already a regularly licensed Denver vendor with a current Denver sales tax license, no additional license or fee is required. Please include any sales made at the special event in your regular sales tax return for that period.
Denver as a “Home Rule City,” collects and administers its own taxes. Effective January 1, 2007, Denver’s sales tax rate is 3.62% for non-food items and 4% for food and beverages sold at retail. Additionally, the State of Colorado imposes a 4.1% sales tax. Please contact them at 303-866-5643, or www.revenue.state.co.us for their special event requirements.
The sponsors/organizers for most well-established special events have already made arrangements with this department for sales tax licensing and distribution of forms. Please check with your event organizer for this information before using the forms found on this site. The forms provided by your organizer will have pre-designated account numbers for the specific event.
If the forms are not available from your event organizer, use the template forms on this site. Complete the application/registration form and submit it, along with the required $5.00 license fee, as far in advance of the event as possible. Once your application/registration is received, an account number will be assigned and a special event sales tax return will be sent to you. Use the return to report and remit the sales tax collected.
PLEASE NOTE: A City and County of Denver Tax Revenue Agent may contact you in person at the event itself. This is typically for the purpose of collecting a Special Event License Fee (if not previously paid) and/or to verify payment of the license fee prior to the event.
If for any reason you do not receive a sales tax return, you can use the template found on this site, but please call us at 720-865-7046, to receive the correct account number to add to your return, and the correct due date (generally due the 20th of the month following the month of the event).
If you have any questions regarding taxability or procedures, please do not hesitate to contact us at 720-865-7046.
The application and sales tax return forms are provided in the link below.
(The document linked below is accessible only in the Adobe Acrobat format. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and read this document. If you do not have an Acrobat Reader, click here to download a free version.)
Special Event Tax Packet.pdf
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