First Regular Session | 74th General Assembly
Colorado General AssemblySection 39-21-305(1)(d) and (e), C.R.S., requires the State Auditor to evaluate all of the State’s tax expenditures at least once every 5 years.
The OSA completed the 2018-2022 evaluation cycle in September 2022 and is now working on the 2023-2027 evaluation cycle, which will also include any new tax expenditures established since 2018.
| Report Title | Issue Date | Report No. |
| Structural Insurance Premium Tax Expenditures | February 2023 | 2023-TE5 |
| Wildfire Mitigation Deduction | February 2023 | 2023-TE4 |
| Long-Term Lodging Exemption | February 2023 | 2023-TE3 |
| Military Retirement Benefits Deduction | January 2023 | 2023-TE2 |
| Home Modification Tax Credit | January 2023 | 2023-TE1 |
The OSA completed the 2018-2022 review cycle in September 2022. Between September 2018 and September 2022, the OSA reviewed a total of 215 separate tax expenditures. The OSA prepared annual compilation reports containing all individual tax expenditure evaluations issued during the preceding 12 months.
State statute defines a tax expenditure as a tax provision that provides a gross or taxable income definition, deduction, exemption, credit, or rate for certain persons, types of income, transactions, or property that results in reduced tax revenue. Tax expenditures are typically not subject to any state agency’s oversight or the State’s annual budget and appropriations process, but are called expenditures because they decrease available state funds by reducing the amount of revenue the State collects from excise, income, insurance premium, sales and use, and severance taxes.
The Department of Revenue estimated in its 2016 Tax Profile & Expenditure Report that the revenue impact of tax expenditures in 2015 was $4.3 billion.
The following infographic (click to view larger PDF file) provides examples of tax expenditures within the Colorado Tax Code:
