What Denver's TABOR Refund Is, What You'll Get, and Why It Exists
How much you'll get, whether you need to do anything, and what happens if you moved here mid-year.
How much you’ll get, whether you need to do anything, and what happens if you moved here mid-year.
Most Colorado residents who filed a 2025 state income tax return are owed a refund from the state government. The payment arrives without much explanation — no cover letter, no press release. It comes from a constitutional provision that has been forcing refunds since the 1990s, triggered whenever the state collects more revenue than a formula allows it to keep.
That provision is TABOR. Most Denver residents have heard the name attached to ballot fights and legislative drama. Fewer know what it actually means when it shows up in their bank account. This piece skips the politics. What follows is a plain-language explanation of who gets the money, how much, whether you have to do anything, and what happens if your situation is messy — you moved here mid-year, you didn’t file because you thought you owed nothing, or you’re wondering whether the IRS will tax you on it next spring.
Editor’s note: The exact per-filer dollar amount, confirmed surplus figure, distribution method, and payment timing for the FY2025 cycle require final confirmation from the Colorado Department of Revenue and the Joint Budget Committee forecast. Numbers in this article reflect prior-cycle figures. Readers should verify the finalized amount with CDOR. Contact information is at the bottom.
What TABOR Is and Why Colorado Sends Money Back
In 1992, Colorado voters approved Article X, Section 20 of the state constitution — the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. It places a strict annual cap on how much revenue the state can collect and keep. The cap is calculated using inflation and population growth. When state revenue exceeds that cap — when the economy runs hot, when income tax collections surge, when capital gains realizations spike — the state is constitutionally prohibited from keeping the excess. It has to send the overage back to residents.
This is not a rebate program the legislature invented, not a stimulus payment, not a political reward. It’s a mandatory refund of money the state collected but isn’t permitted to keep, enforced by the constitution. The courts have repeatedly upheld it. The legislature can’t cancel it, though it can shape how the money gets distributed — and that shaping, as we’ll get to, matters quite a bit in practice.
The FY2025 surplus — the overage collected in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 — triggers the current distribution cycle. (Final surplus figure pending JBC June 2026 forecast.) That surplus is divided across all eligible Colorado income tax filers and returned in equal per-person amounts.
How Much You Will Receive
For the most recent prior cycle, Colorado distributed $800 per single filer, $1,600 for couples filing jointly. The legislature chose a flat per-filer structure: every qualifying single filer received the same dollar amount regardless of income. A nurse earning $85,000 got the same check as a retiree on $28,000.
Earlier cycles used a tiered bracket structure where higher earners received larger refunds, proportional to what they’d paid in state income taxes. The switch to flat distribution was a deliberate equity decision — ensuring lower-income filers got a meaningful payment rather than a token one. Reasonable people disagree about which approach is fairer. The flat structure is what’s been used in recent cycles, and it’s what the 2026 distribution will follow.
For the 2026 distribution (based on your 2025 Colorado return), the per-filer amount follows the same flat structure. Exact figure pending final CDOR and General Assembly confirmation — check colorado.gov/revenueonline or call 303-238-7378 once the number is set.
Joint filers receive twice the single-filer amount. In the prior cycle, that was $1,600. The multiplier applies automatically based on your filing status.
Do You Have to Do Anything to Receive It
In recent cycles, Colorado has used an advance direct payment model. CDOR identifies every eligible filer from the 2025 state return already on file and sends payment automatically — no separate application, no additional form. Direct deposit if that information is on your return; paper check otherwise.
Editors: Confirm this cycle’s distribution method via the relevant 2025 General Assembly bill before publication. An earlier mechanism required filers to claim the refund as a credit on Form DR 0104. If that method has been reinstated, the action item changes significantly.
The catch is simpler than people expect: you had to file a 2025 Colorado income tax return to be in the system. If you worked part-time, lived on Social Security below the filing threshold, or had enough withholding that you owed Colorado $0.00, you may have decided there was no reason to file. Reasonable assumption — and for TABOR purposes, wrong. The refund goes to filers, not to people who simply happen to live here.
Low-income residents are the population most likely to have skipped filing for exactly this reason. They’re also the population for whom $800 is most meaningful. That’s the equity problem buried inside what looks like a clean, universal benefit — and it doesn’t get talked about enough. For more context on how this mechanism plays out across different income levels, our legal and finance coverage tracks Colorado tax and benefit issues that directly affect Denver households.
Who Qualifies
Full-year Denver residents who filed a 2025 Colorado return qualify for the full per-filer amount. Straightforward.
Part-year residents — people who moved to Denver during 2025, or who left Colorado during 2025 — receive a prorated refund calculated on Form DR 0104PN (the Part-Year Resident/Nonresident Schedule) based on days of Colorado residency during the tax year. Move here from Austin in July 2025 and you were a Colorado resident for roughly half the year; your refund will be approximately half the full amount. This calculation happens automatically when you file the part-year return. Move here in January 2025 and stay, you’re a full-year Colorado resident and get the full amount.
Non-residents who earned Colorado income — remote workers with Colorado-source income, commercial real estate investors, performers who worked gigs here — generally don’t qualify. Earning Colorado income as a nonresident doesn’t establish Colorado domicile, and domicile (or part-year residency) is the threshold.
ITIN filers don’t qualify. The refund requires a valid Social Security number. This affects a significant number of Denver residents, particularly in Westwood, Globeville, and Elyria-Swansea, where many households include mixed-status families or individuals who file using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. This isn’t an oversight — it’s been a consistent feature of the TABOR structure across cycles, and community organizations in those neighborhoods have documented the gap and pushed back on it for years. The exclusion is real, it’s large, and the people it affects are often the same people who could most use the money.
Does the TABOR Refund Count as Taxable Income
For most Colorado recipients, no. The governing principle is the IRS “tax benefit rule”: you can’t be taxed on a refund of money you never deducted. Most Americans take the standard deduction on their federal return. If you took the standard deduction on your 2025 federal return, you never deducted your Colorado state income taxes, and the IRS has no basis to tax you when Colorado returns some of them.
There’s a narrow exception. If you itemized deductions on your 2025 federal return and claimed Colorado state income taxes on Schedule A, you did derive a federal tax benefit from those payments. Receiving a Colorado state refund — TABOR or otherwise — may then make a portion of that refund federally taxable in 2026. You’d calculate this using the state tax refund worksheet accompanying Schedule 1 of your federal return. The taxable amount isn’t necessarily the full refund; it depends on how much your itemized deductions actually exceeded the standard deduction. The IRS clarified in early 2023 that Colorado’s 2022 TABOR refund was not federally taxable for most recipients, establishing this treatment for state special payments of this type.
Editors: Confirm IRS treatment carries forward to the 2025 tax year and check for any new IRS guidance on 2025 state special payments before publication.
On the Colorado side, the refund isn’t treated as income. You won’t add it back on your 2026 Colorado return.
What If You Missed the Filing Deadline or Have Outstanding Debts
The standard Colorado filing deadline is April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15. In most recent cycles, filers who submitted valid 2025 Colorado returns by the October 15 extension deadline were included in the eligible pool, though payment timing may be delayed compared to April filers.
Editors: Confirm extension-filer eligibility and payment timing with CDOR for this specific cycle before publication.
If the October 15 date has passed and you still haven’t filed your 2025 Colorado return, your situation is more complicated. You can file a late return, and CDOR has in some circumstances included late filers in TABOR distributions, but there’s no guarantee. An amended return may also be worth exploring if you filed incorrectly — say, as a nonresident when you were actually a Colorado domiciliary for part of the year.
One thing many people miss: TABOR refunds can be intercepted for unpaid state taxes, child support arrears, and certain other state-collected debts. If you owe a balance to a state agency, some or all of your refund may be applied to that debt before anything reaches you. Contact CDOR directly if you think an offset might apply. Don’t assume the full amount is coming until you’ve checked. If you’re uncertain about your broader tax liability and what Colorado law actually requires from workers in changing circumstances, the Colorado non-compete law and job-change tax obligations for Denver workers is one area where these questions overlap — particularly for people who changed employers mid-year.
Where Denver Residents Can Get Free Filing Help
If you missed the deadline, aren’t sure you filed correctly, or want to help a neighbor get into the system, several Denver organizations offer free tax preparation through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. These sites serve households with income generally at or below $67,000 and are staffed by IRS-certified volunteers.
Mile High United Way runs VITA sites through the Denver Asset Building Coalition (DABC) at multiple locations, including the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library at 2401 Welton St. in Five Points and satellite sites in Montbello, Westwood, and Globeville-Elyria-Swansea. Locations and schedules vary by tax season. Reach DABC at unitedwaydenver.org/taxes.
Editors: Confirm current appointment line before publication. DABC has historically operated a line at (303) 595-1409 but contact information changes annually.
Denver Public Library’s Taxes in the Library program embeds VITA services inside branch libraries at the Central Library (10 W. 14th Ave. Pkwy., Capitol Hill), Montbello Branch (12955 Albrook Dr.), and Westwood Branch (1000 S. Lowell Blvd.). Hours and appointment availability vary by branch. Check denverlibrary.org or call the branch directly.
Editors: Confirm 2026 tax season dates before publication.
Servicios de La Raza, at 4055 Tejon St. in Sunnyside, offers Spanish-language tax preparation and is a known access point for immigrant and mixed-status families navigating the filing process. Worth noting specifically because many of the residents Servicios serves are shut out of the TABOR refund by the SSN requirement — meaning staff there are also fielding questions about a benefit their clients can’t access.
Editors: Confirm VITA certification status for the current filing season. Servicios has operated tax assistance programs in prior years, but certification must be verified annually through the IRS VITA locator at irs.gov/vita.
All of these sites run appointment-only during peak season. If you’re calling after the April deadline, ask specifically about late-filing assistance and TABOR refund eligibility. Don’t just show up.
How to Check Your Refund Status and Reach CDOR
Once refunds begin disbursing, check your payment status through Revenue Online at colorado.gov/revenueonline. You’ll need your Social Security number and either your Colorado Account Number or the adjusted gross income from your 2025 Colorado return.
For questions the online tool can’t resolve, call the CDOR taxpayer assistance line at (303) 238-7378, Monday through Friday during standard business hours. Wait times spike in the weeks after disbursement — budget for it.
Editors: Verify this number remains current at colorado.gov/tax before publication.
For in-person help, visit the Denver Taxpayer Service Center at 1375 Sherman St. on the State Capitol campus. Bring a photo ID and a copy of your filed return.
Editors: Verify current walk-in hours — CDOR adjusted these after COVID and they may differ from pre-2020 norms.
Written correspondence: Colorado Department of Revenue, P.O. Box 17011, Denver, CO 80217.
Sidebar: Didn’t File Yet? Start Here
Who qualifies for free VITA help: Households with income at or below $67,000.
Filing deadlines: April 15, 2026 (standard); October 15, 2026 (extension). If both dates have passed, file a late return anyway and contact CDOR about your options.
Three Denver VITA contacts:
| Site | Address | Neighborhood | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blair-Caldwell Library (DABC) | 2401 Welton St. | Five Points | unitedwaydenver.org/taxes |
| Westwood Branch Library | 1000 S. Lowell Blvd. | Westwood | denverlibrary.org |
| Servicios de La Raza | 4055 Tejon St. | Sunnyside | serviciosdelaraza.org |
Check refund status: colorado.gov/revenueonline
Call CDOR: (303) 238-7378, Monday–Friday
Walk-in: 1375 Sherman St. — confirm hours before visiting
CityDesk Denver will update this article when CDOR confirms the final FY2025 surplus and per-filer amount following the June 2026 Joint Budget Committee forecast. If you’ve run into a problem with your TABOR refund — wrong amount, intercepted payment, eligibility dispute — contact the newsroom.
