(1)(a) If a vehicle subject to
taxation under this article 3 is not registered when required by law, the vehicle
owner shall pay:
(I)A late fee of twenty-five dollars for each month or portion of a month
following the expiration of the registration period, or, if applicable, the expiration of
the grace period described in section 42-3-114 for which the vehicle is unregistered;
except that the amount of the late fee must not exceed one hundred dollars; and
(II)In addition to the taxes and fees to register the vehicle, prorated
registration taxes and fees from the date the vehicle was required by law to be
registered to the date the owner applied to register the vehicle. Prorated taxes and
fees are assessed for a full month for the month the owner became a resident of
Colorado
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(1) (a) If a vehicle subject to
taxation under this article 3 is not registered when required by law, the vehicle
owner shall pay:
(I) A late fee of twenty-five dollars for each month or portion of a month
following the expiration of the registration period, or, if applicable, the expiration of
the grace period described in section 42-3-114 for which the vehicle is unregistered;
except that the amount of the late fee must not exceed one hundred dollars; and
(II) In addition to the taxes and fees to register the vehicle, prorated
registration taxes and fees from the date the vehicle was required by law to be
registered to the date the owner applied to register the vehicle. Prorated taxes and
fees are assessed for a full month for the month the owner became a resident of
Colorado and for the month the owner applied for registration and a full month for
each month between when the owner became a resident and when the owner
applied for registration.
(b) Both the late fee and prorated registration taxes and fees imposed in this
subsection (1) are due when the vehicle is registered.
(1.5) (a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the executive director
of the department shall promulgate rules that establish circumstances in addition
to the circumstances described in subsection (3) of this section in which a vehicle
owner is exempt from paying the late fee described in subsection (1) of this section.
The rules must apply uniformly throughout the state and must include exemptions
for:
(I) Acts of God and weather-related delays;
(II) Office closures and furloughs;
(III) Repealed.
(IV) Medical hardships; and
(V) Information technology failures.
(b) The executive director of the department shall also promulgate rules in
accordance with article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., that allow the department or an
authorized agent to reduce or waive the late fee that would otherwise be due upon
the registration of a trailer that is a commercial or farm vehicle, as part of the
normal operation, if the owner can establish, in accordance with criteria specified in
the rules, that the trailer was idled so that it was not operated on any public
highway in this state for at least a full registration period. Nothing in this paragraph
(b) shall be construed to exempt the owner of an idled trailer from paying any fees
imposed pursuant to this article other than the late fee before again operating the
trailer on a public highway in this state or from paying any taxes imposed pursuant
to this article. The owner shall provide to the department or authorized agent a
sworn affidavit that states that the trailer has not been operated on the public
highways during the period for which it was not registered as required and
describes the nature of the business conditions that resulted in the removal of the
trailer from service.
(c) The executive director of the department shall consult with the
authorized agents in promulgating the rules required by subsection (1.5)(a) of this
section.
(1.7) (a) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the owner of the
following vehicles that are subject to taxation under this article 3 who fails to
register the vehicle when required by law shall pay a late fee of ten dollars:
(I) A vehicle without motive power that weighs sixteen thousand pounds or
less; or
(II) A camper trailer, trailer coach, or multipurpose trailer regardless of its
weight.
(b) For purposes of this subsection (1.7), the weight of a trailer of any kind is
the empty weight.
(2) Ten dollars of the late registration fee shall be retained by the
department or the authorized agent who registers the motor vehicle. Each
authorized agent shall remit to the department no less frequently than once a
month, but otherwise at the time and in the manner required by the executive
director of the department, the remainder of the late registration fees collected by
the authorized agent. The executive director shall forward all late registration fees
remitted by authorized agents plus the remainder of the late registration fees
collected directly by the department to the state treasurer, who shall credit the
fees to the highway users tax fund in accordance with section 43-4-804 (1)(e),
C.R.S.
(3) The late fee described in subsection (1) of this section shall not be
imposed on a vehicle subject to taxation under this article if:
(a) The person who owns the vehicle uses the vehicle in operating a
commercial business and, as part of the normal operation of the business, idles the
vehicle so that it is not operated on any public highway in this state for at least one
full registration period. Nothing in this paragraph (a) shall be construed to exempt
the owner of an idled vehicle from paying any fees imposed pursuant to this article
other than the late fee before again operating the vehicle on a public highway in
this state or from paying any taxes imposed pursuant to this article.
(b) The person who owns the vehicle is in the active military service of the
United States and is serving outside the state when a registration period and grace
period for renewal of registration for the vehicle end and the vehicle is not operated
on any public highway of the state between the time the registration period and
grace period end and the time the vehicle is reregistered. Nothing in this paragraph
(b) shall be construed to exempt the owner of such a vehicle from paying any fees
imposed pursuant to this article other than the late fee before again operating the
vehicle on a public highway in this state or from paying any taxes imposed pursuant
to this article.
(c) The vehicle registration expired during the period the vehicle was
reported stolen.
Source: L. 2005: Entire section amended, p. 395, � 1, effective July 1; entire
article amended with relocations, p. 1094, � 2, effective August 8. L. 2009: Entire
section amended, (SB 09-108), ch. 5, p. 50, � 7, effective March 2; (3)(c) added, (HB
09-1230), ch. 232, p. 1068, � 5, effective August 5. L. 2010: (1.5) added, (HB 10-1212),
ch. 126, p. 419, � 1, effective April 15; (1.7) added, (HB 10-1211), ch. 323, p. 1500, � 1,
effective July 1; (1.7) amended, (SB 10-198), ch. 377, p. 1771, � 1, effective July 1. L.
2017: (1.5)(c) amended, (HB 17-1107), ch. 101, p. 367, � 13, effective August 9. L.
2022: (1) and IP(1.5)(a) amended and (1.5)(a)(III) repealed, (HB 22-1254), ch. 428, p.
3027, � 3, effective January 1, 2023; (1.7) amended, (HB 22-1388), ch. 475, p. 3460, �
3, effective January 1, 2023.