(1)
Except as otherwise provided in this section, every distributor, supplier, carrier,
exporter, importer, blender, refiner, or terminal operator of gasoline or special fuel
other than liquefied petroleum gas on or before the twenty-sixth day of each
calendar month shall file with the executive director of the department of revenue,
on forms prescribed and furnished by the department, an itemized statement made
under penalty of perjury in the second degree, showing the following:
(a) The number of gallons of gasoline or special fuel acquired in, imported
into, or removed from any terminal in this state from any source whatsoever during
the preceding calendar month;
(b) The quantity of the different kinds of gasoline or special fuel so acquired,
imported, or removed;
(c) The amount of gasoline or special fuel exported from this state, with the
date of shipment, the car number and initials, and the number of invoiced gallons of
gasoline or special fuel contained in each tank car if exported by rail, and the name
of the owner and the make and license number of the tank truck or tank wagon if
such transportation is used, and the name of the person to whom such exported
gasoline or special fuel was sold, the point of shipment, and the point of delivery;
(d) The date of acquisition, import, or removal of each shipment of gasoline
or special fuel acquired, imported, or removed, the name of the person from whom
purchased or acquired, the point of origin and point of destination of each shipment,
the quantity in gallons of each of said purchases or shipments, the name of the
carrier, the number of each tank car, its initial, and the number of invoiced gallons
contained in each tank car if shipped by rail, and the name of the owner and the
make, license number, and capacity in gallons of the tank truck or tank wagon if
such transportation was used;
(d.3) In the case of a blender of gasoline or special fuel, the amount and
character of the unblended products and the blended products on hand on the last
day of the preceding calendar month, the amount of unblended products acquired
and the amount of products blended during the calendar month, and any other
information relative to the disposition of the blended products as the executive
director may deem necessary or advisable for the correct determination of the
amount of excise tax applicable to gasoline or special fuel acquired, used, or sold
by the blender; and
(e) Any further information as the executive director may require pertaining
to the acquisition, import, or removal of gasoline or special fuel and its disposition
and the tax due, collected, or paid thereon, if any.
(f) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2021.)
(1.1) The information required for reporting acquisition or disposition of
gasoline or special fuel pursuant to this article 27 must be submitted electronically
in the manner prescribed by the department of revenue. The department, in
consultation with licensees, shall develop standards regarding filing of information
that includes, but is not limited to, the data elements, the format of the data
elements, and the method and medium of transmission to the department. The
department shall incorporate into the standards, to the extent practicable, the
uniform forms and reporting methods prescribed by the federation of tax
administrators or other similar association of states.
(1.2) (a) Every distributor, exporter, or importer of liquefied petroleum gas on
or before the twenty-sixth day of each calendar month shall file with the executive
director of the department of revenue, on forms prescribed and furnished by the
department, a statement made under penalty of perjury in the second degree,
showing the following aggregated amounts:
(I) The number of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas that the distributor
placed in a fuel tank and that are subject to the excise tax under this part 1;
(II) The number of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas that the distributor
placed in a fuel tank and that are exempt from the excise tax under this part 1;
(III) The number of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas, not placed in a fuel
tank, that are sold to the state of Colorado, any of its agencies, any town, city,
county, city and county, school district of this state, or any other political
subdivision of this state;
(IV) The number of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas sold to a nonprofit
transit agency that are not placed in a fuel tank;
(V) The number of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas imported into the state;
and
(VI) The number of gallons of liquefied petroleum gas exported from this
state.
(b) Repealed.
(1.3) (a) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2005, p. 869, � 5, effective July 1, 2005.)
(b) The executive director of the department of revenue, if said executive
director deems it necessary in order to ensure payment of the tax imposed by this
part 1 or to facilitate the administration of this part 1, may require a report of a
distributor and payment of the tax due by the distributor to be made for other than,
or in addition to, the monthly period. When such option is authorized, the amount of
surety bond required by section 39-27-104 (2) may be adjusted by the executive
director proportionately with the change in liability.
(c) Distributors may aggregate figures stated in the reports required by this
part 1 for natural gas for all service stations or other facilities that dispense natural
gas for sale to users and that are owned or operated by the same distributor.
(d) Distributors may aggregate figures stated in the reports required by this
part 1 for natural gas for sales of such fuels to a particular class or type of
individual user. Distributors of natural gas shall not be required to separately report
the amount of sales to individual users.
(e) Any inventory reporting requirements established pursuant to this
subsection (1.3) shall not apply to distributors of natural gas whose service stations
or other facilities receive special fuel for sale through a pipeline and have a
maximum special fuel storage capacity of less than one-thousand-gallon
equivalents at the site where sales are made to users.
(f) Distributors of liquefied petroleum gas shall aggregate figures stated in
the reports required by this part 1.
(1.5) Repealed.
(2) (a) (I) It is the duty of every distributor of gasoline or special fuel other
than liquefied petroleum gas to compute the amount of tax payable on all gasoline
or special fuel imported, removed from a terminal, or otherwise acquired during the
preceding calendar month at the rate of tax per gallon imposed thereon in section
39-27-102 (1), and, in computing the amount of tax, the allowance of two percent
provided for in section 39-27-102 (1)(b)(I)(A) shall be taken into account.
(II) It is the duty of every distributor of liquefied petroleum gas to compute
the amount of tax payable on the liquefied petroleum gas placed in a fuel tank or
used to propel a cargo tank motor vehicle in the preceding calendar month at the
rate of tax per gallon imposed thereon.
(b) From the amount of tax computed under subsection (2)(a) of this section,
the distributor shall deduct one-half of one percent to cover expenses of payment
of the tax and bad debt losses and shall pay the remaining balance to the
department of revenue and file the statement required by subsection (1) of this
section on or before the twenty-sixth day of each calendar month. If any distributor
is delinquent in remitting the tax, except in unusual circumstances shown to the
satisfaction of the executive director of the department of revenue, the retailer
shall not be allowed to deduct any amount under this subsection (2)(b).
(c) (I) If any person fails to file any return or statement when due as provided
in this section, the executive director shall impose and collect a penalty of one
hundred dollars.
(II) If any person fails to pay the tax when due as provided in this section, the
executive director shall impose and collect a penalty of thirty dollars or ten percent
of the tax due, plus one-half of one percent per month from the date when due, not
to exceed eighteen percent in the aggregate, whichever is greater, in addition to
any other penalties provided by this part 1. The executive director shall also collect
interest at the rate imposed under section 39-21-110.5.
(III) If the penalties provided for in subsection (2)(c)(I) and (2)(c)(II) both apply,
then the executive director shall impose and collect only the larger of the two
penalties. The executive director may waive, for good cause shown, any penalty or
interest added pursuant to this subsection (2)(c).
(d) (I) The executive director shall waive the penalties imposed under
subsection (2)(c) of this section for tax periods between January 1, 2022, and
December 31, 2022, if the distributor demonstrates a good-faith effort to comply
with the changes made by House Bill 21-1322, enacted in 2021, to the satisfaction of
the executive director; amends any returns filed; and pays any tax deficiency
resulting from those amended returns on or before March 31, 2023.
(II) This subsection (2)(d) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.
(3) If any person fails or refuses to make and file the sworn statement
required by this section and pay the tax due, if any, for any calendar month or if a
person makes and files any incorrect or fraudulent statement or return for any
calendar month as required by this part 1, the executive director of the department
of revenue, upon such information as is available in his or her office or elsewhere,
shall determine the amount of gasoline or special fuel taxes due from that person
and shall add to that amount a penalty of thirty percent thereof for failure to file
such report or for filing the false or fraudulent report and collect the amount of the
tax and penalty plus interest on the whole amount due from that person at the rate
imposed under section 39-21-110.5 from the date due until paid. Upon making such
estimate, and adding the penalty and interest as provided in this section, the
executive director shall mail a notice of deficiency as provided in section 39-21-103.
A hearing may be held and the executive director shall make a final determination
pursuant to that section. The taxpayer may appeal that final determination in the
manner provided in section 39-21-105. The executive director may waive, for good
cause shown, any penalty or interest added as provided in this article 27 and article
21 of this title 39.
(4) (a) (I) Every person who has obtained a passenger-mile tax permit
pursuant to section 42-3-309, C.R.S., where such permit relates to a motor vehicle
that is powered by special fuel, shall, on or before the last day of the month
following the end of the quarter, file with the executive director of the department
of revenue a report stating the amount of special fuel subject to the tax imposed by
this part 1 consumed by such person during the prior quarter and such other
information relating to the use of special fuel for the propulsion of a motor vehicle
on the highways of this state as the executive director may require. The executive
director, under rules and procedures established by said executive director, may
exempt from the reporting requirement of this subsection (4) any motor vehicle
used exclusively within this state. Failure to receive the authorized report form does
not relieve such person from the obligation of submitting a report to the executive
director setting forth all information required on the prescribed report form. The
report shall contain or be accompanied by a written declaration that it is made
under the penalties of perjury in the second degree, as defined in section 18-8-503,
C.R.S.
(II) The tax due pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) shall be
computed by multiplying the rate per gallon as set forth in section 39-27-102
(1)(a)(II)(B) by the number of gallons of special fuel used in this state.
(b) From the tax due, an authorized user may claim credit for tax paid on
purchases of special fuel from vendors within this state. Any credit in excess of the
tax due from a user under this part 1 may be claimed on a consolidated report
authorized under paragraph (c) of this subsection (4) as a credit against the taxes
imposed under sections 42-3-304 to 42-3-306, C.R.S. Otherwise, such credit is
refundable under the provisions of section 39-27-103 and such rules and
procedures as the executive director of the department of revenue may adopt.
(c) The executive director of the department of revenue may authorize, under
rules and procedures established by said executive director, the consolidation of
the report required by this subsection (4) and the report required by section 42-3-308, C.R.S., into a single report.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, any
owner or operator of a motor vehicle required to pay a special fuel tax imposed by
the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (4) may pay the tax and file the
statement required by said paragraph (a) on a quarterly basis. The executive
director of the department of revenue, under rules and procedures established by
the executive director, may exempt from the reporting requirement of this
subsection (4) any motor vehicle used exclusively within this state.
(5) (a) Except as provided in subsection (4)(a) of this section and in section
39-27-102.5 (2)(c), every person who imports into this state special fuel within the
fuel tank of a motor vehicle and who is not required to report special fuel usage
under subsection (4) of this section shall obtain from the port of entry, from the
office of the department of revenue nearest the point of entry into this state, or
from any officer of the Colorado state patrol a single trip permit that contains a
description of the motor vehicle, a description of the points of travel within the
state of Colorado, and such other information as the executive director of the
department of revenue may require. At the time of issuance of such single trip
permit, a tax will be computed and paid based on the consumption rate of four
miles per gallon for special fuel consumed within Colorado at the special fuel tax
rate provided by section 39-27-102 (1)(a)(II)(B). A fee of one dollar shall be paid for
each single trip permit and the permit shall be valid for a period of seventy-two
hours.
(b) (I) The holder of a single trip permit shall be entitled to a refund of any
tax imposed by this part 1 paid to a vendor within this state if:
(A) The special fuel, upon which such tax is paid, is placed into the fuel tank
of the motor vehicle described within the permit; and
(B) The sale and delivery of such special fuel is within the seventy-two-hour
period for which the permit is valid.
(II) The refund allowed by this paragraph (b) shall be issued under the
provisions of section 39-27-103 and such rules and procedures as the executive
director of the department of revenue may adopt.
(c) Any person whose use of special fuel is for the propulsion of a privately
operated automobile shall be exempt from the provisions of this subsection (5). A
privately operated passenger automobile does not include a motor vehicle used for
the transportation of persons for hire or for compensation or designed, used, or
maintained primarily for the transportation of property. A motor vehicle exempt
from the mileage taxes of article 3 of title 42, C.R.S., is deemed to be a privately
operated passenger automobile for purposes of this subsection (5).
(d) Any person who violates this subsection (5) is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of seventy-five dollars,
which shall be in addition to the civil penalties imposed by section 39-27-104 (1)(g).
(6) (a) Every person who imports gasoline or special fuel into this state for
use or sale in this state without a single trip permit or a valid importer's, supplier's,
blender's, or distributor's license is liable for and shall pay an excise tax pursuant
to section 39-27-102 (1) on all gasoline and undyed special fuel other than liquefied
petroleum gas such person imports for use or sale in this state.
(b) Immediately upon discovering a violation of this subsection (6), the
department of revenue and agents thereof:
(I) May demand payment of such excise tax and all applicable fines and
penalties associated with the unlicensed importation of special fuel, as set forth in
this subsection (6); and
(II) May detain the shipment of gasoline or special fuel until such excise tax,
fines, and penalties are collected.
(c) Any person who imports gasoline or special fuel, including liquified
petroleum gas, into this state without a valid license pursuant to section 39-27-104
is subject to the civil penalties set forth in section 39-27-104 (1)(g).
(7) (a) If any person other than a licensed distributor or supplier physically
diverts to one or more destinations within the boundaries of this state all or any
portion of a shipment of gasoline or special fuel that is claimed as an export on the
bill of lading or other affidavit, such person shall report to the department of
revenue the destinations within this state to which the diverted gasoline or special
fuel shipment was delivered within one working day after such diversion. Such
person shall be liable for payment of the excise tax established in this part 1 on the
amount of gasoline or special fuel other than liquefied petroleum gas diverted to a
destination within this state.
(b) Any licensed distributor or supplier who diverts gasoline or special fuel
for use or sale within this state after claiming such shipment as an export shall
report such diversion to the department of revenue within one working day after the
diversion.
(c) Any person who violates the reporting requirements of this subsection (7)
shall be subject to the civil penalties set forth in section 39-27-104 (1)(g).
(d) Immediately upon discovery of a violation of this section, the department
of revenue and agents thereof may require payment of the excise tax and all
applicable civil penalties from any person who violates this section and may detain
the shipment of gasoline or special fuel until payment is collected.
(8) to (10) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2005, p. 869, � 5, effective July 1,
2005.)
(11) Distributors who sell natural gas exclusively to distributors, vendors, or
other retailers of special fuels shall be exempt from the reporting and tax
collection and remittance requirements of this section. This subsection (11) shall not
apply to any distributor who sells natural gas to a user.