Business registration & legal
Colorado Business License in 2026: Secretary of State Filings, Sales Tax License, Registered Agent and Local Licenses
Colorado business license 2026: no state license, the $25 periodic report, registered agent rules, sales tax and Denver.
Edited by Sumeet YadavFounder & editor, MSMETOOLS · fact-checked against official sources
Contents (10)
- 1. Is there a Colorado state business license?
- 2. Secretary of State filings and the periodic report
- 3. Colorado registered agent requirements
- 4. State sales tax license
- 5. Home-rule cities: separate licenses and returns
- 6. Denver business licenses and taxes
- 7. Colorado Springs and other cities
- 8. Worked examples
- 9. Common mistakes and how to fix them
- 10. What to do next
Colorado is a state where "business license" means several different things depending on where you stand. The state itself does not issue a general license. What it does require is a Secretary of State registration with a yearly periodic report and a registered agent, a state sales tax license if you sell taxable goods, and a professional license for regulated trades. Then roughly 70 home-rule cities, including Denver and Colorado Springs, run their own sales tax systems and license only certain types of business. This guide sets out each layer, the current fees, the 2024 registered agent rules and how it works in Denver and Colorado Springs. Everything was checked against official pages in October 2026.
Quick answer
Colorado has no state general business license. Most businesses need a Secretary of State filing (LLC or corporation $50, trade name $20) with a $25 periodic report each year, a Colorado registered agent, a state sales tax license ($16 plus a $50 deposit) if they sell taxable goods, and any city license or home-rule sales tax license.
The periodic report rose from $10 to $25 on July 1, 2024
Individual registered agents must give a Colorado driver's license or ID number, or verify residency
State sales tax licenses expire December 31 of odd-numbered years
Denver and Colorado Springs license specific activities only, but require their own sales tax license
Is there a Colorado state business license?
No. Colorado leaves general licensing to cities and counties, and many of them do not have a general license either. The Secretary of State's own guidance says that once you have filed your business, you need to research federal, state, county and local licensing requirements: some licenses come from the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) depending on the work you do, and others from city or county offices.
In practice, a new Colorado business works through four layers. First, the Secretary of State: an LLC, corporation or partnership files formation documents, and a sole proprietor using a trade name files a statement of trade name. Second, the Department of Revenue: a state sales tax license for retailers, a withholding account for employers, and other tax accounts. Third, DORA and other state agencies for regulated occupations. Fourth, the city or county, which may require a business license for your activity, a sales tax license if it is a home-rule city that collects its own tax, zoning approval and inspections.
The state's MyBizColorado service lets you start several state registrations, including the sales tax license and wage withholding account, in one online session. It does not cover home-rule cities, which you contact separately.
Getting licensed in Colorado
Step 1
Secretary of State
entity or trade name
Step 2
Registered agent
Colorado address
Step 3
Department of Revenue
sales tax, withholding
Step 4
DORA
regulated trades
Step 5
City or county
activity license, home-rule tax
Secretary of State filings and the periodic report
All Secretary of State business filings are online. The core fees are low compared with many states, but the periodic report changed recently, and older guides still show the previous figure.
Colorado Secretary of State business fees (2026)
| Filing | Online fee |
|---|---|
Articles of organization (LLC) | $50 |
Articles of incorporation (profit or nonprofit corporation) | $50 |
Statement of trade name (sole proprietor, partnership or entity) | $20 |
Foreign entity statement of authority | $100 |
Periodic report (yearly) | $25 |
Periodic report late filing penalty | $50 |
Statement of change (registered agent, address, name) | $10 |
Statement curing delinquency | $100 |
Articles of organization (LLC)
- Online fee
$50
Articles of incorporation (profit or nonprofit corporation)
- Online fee
$50
Statement of trade name (sole proprietor, partnership or entity)
- Online fee
$20
Foreign entity statement of authority
- Online fee
$100
Periodic report (yearly)
- Online fee
$25
Periodic report late filing penalty
- Online fee
$50
Statement of change (registered agent, address, name)
- Online fee
$10
Statement curing delinquency
- Online fee
$100
The periodic report cost $10 from 2006 until the Secretary of State raised it to $25 on July 1, 2024, to fund reimbursements to counties for election costs. Every reporting entity files one each year: LLCs, corporations, nonprofit corporations, limited partnerships formed after July 26, 2009, limited liability partnerships and several other entity types. Your periodic report month is shown on your entity's summary page in the business database, and it is normally the month of your formation anniversary.
You can file the report from two months before your periodic report month until two months after it without penalty. Using the Secretary of State's own example, an entity with a January report month has until March 31. If it misses that date, its status becomes noncompliant, the late penalty applies, and the report is due by May 31. If it still has not filed by then, the entity becomes delinquent. A delinquent entity must file a statement curing delinquency, for $100, to return to good standing.
Delinquency has a name cost too. The Secretary of State holds a delinquent entity's name for 400 days; on day 401 the entity's name is changed to include the word "delinquent" and the date, and the original name becomes available to anyone else. Since a 2024 law, House Bill 24-1137, an entity that has been delinquent for five years or longer must also file an affidavit and a government photo ID with its statement curing delinquency, and the office reviews the documents before accepting it.
Sign up for the Secretary of State's free email notification service. It sends a reminder the month before your report month, but the office is clear that you are responsible for filing on time whether or not you receive one.
Colorado registered agent requirements
Almost every entity on record with the Secretary of State must keep a registered agent with a physical Colorado address, even if the business itself is based in another state. The registered agent receives service of process, legal papers and state notices and passes them to the business. If you let the agent lapse, you risk missing a lawsuit; a court can enter a default judgment against a business that never responded to a complaint it did not know about.
Colorado tightened the rules in 2024. A change in state law means an individual serving as a registered agent must now hold a valid, current Colorado driver's license or identification card, and the business appointing that individual must provide the agent's Colorado ID number when it files. The full eligibility rules are below.
Who can be a Colorado registered agent
0/7If you want to serve as your own agent but do not have a Colorado license or ID card, you can still qualify by verifying your residency another way. You first request a registered agent passcode and upload one document showing your Colorado street address, such as a utility bill, bank or credit card statement, mortgage statement, government correspondence or tribal ID. The document must be dated within the last 90 days, show a specific issue date rather than a range, and show your first and last name exactly as you entered them. The request is reviewed, which can take a few business days, and if approved you receive a passcode by email that is valid for 45 calendar days.
An entity can serve as its own registered agent, but not at formation. You first register with another eligible individual or entity as agent, and once your entity is registered and in good standing you file a statement of change to appoint itself. Changing agents at any time costs $10. If your agent resigns and you do not appoint a new one, the entity becomes delinquent, just as it would for a missed periodic report.
Commercial registered agent services are common in Colorado and suit owners who live out of state, work from home and do not want their address on the public record, or travel often. Annual prices vary widely by provider and are not set by the state, so compare what is included, such as mail scanning and compliance reminders, before you sign up. Our Delaware registered agent guide explains how commercial agent pricing typically works.
State sales tax license
Any retailer that must collect Colorado sales tax needs a state sales tax license from the Department of Revenue. A retail license also lets you make wholesale sales. You can apply for a single location through MyBizColorado or with the Sales Tax / Wage Withholding Account Application, form CR 0100; businesses with two or more locations use CR 0100, because each business location needs its own license, displayed where customers can see it.
The fee is prorated across the two-year license cycle, because every license expires on December 31 of an odd-numbered year. New accounts also pay a one-time deposit on the first location, which is refunded automatically once the business has collected and paid $50 in state sales tax. You should not deduct the deposit on your returns.
| When you apply | State license fee |
|---|---|
| January–June of an even-numbered year (such as 2026) | $16 |
| July–December of an even-numbered year | $12 |
| January–June of an odd-numbered year (such as 2027) | $8 |
| July–December of an odd-numbered year | $4 |
| New account deposit (first location only) | $50 |
The state sales tax rate is 2.9%. On top of that, a sale may be subject to state-administered local taxes for counties, cities and special districts, which you report on the state return, and to self-collected home-rule city taxes, which the Department does not administer. From January 1, 2026, retailers may no longer keep the state's vendor service fee on state sales tax, though some local jurisdictions still allow one.
Home-rule cities: separate licenses and returns
About 70 Colorado municipalities have home-rule status and collect their own sales tax instead of letting the state do it. Each has its own tax code, license, exemptions and filing schedule, and a business selling in several of them may need a license from each. Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Boulder, Fort Collins, Lakewood, Arvada, Longmont and Loveland are among them.
The state's Sales and Use Tax System, known as SUTS, offers one online place to file and pay state sales tax, state-collected local taxes and the self-collected taxes of participating home-rule cities. Participation is optional and not every home-rule city takes part, so check the Department of Revenue's list of participating jurisdictions before relying on it. For non-participating cities, you register and file with the city directly.
Denver business licenses and taxes
Denver does not issue a general business license that every company must hold. Its Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection keeps a directory of 68 license types for activities with health, safety or consumer-protection concerns, such as amusement facilities, auctioneers, body art, burglar alarm companies, child care, liquor, marijuana, residential rental properties, security services and short-term rentals. If your business is on that list, you apply to the department, and processing times are published on its website.
What most Denver businesses do need is a Denver tax license. Businesses selling taxable goods or services in the city need a Denver retailer's sales, use and lodger's tax license, and out-of-state businesses with economic nexus in Denver must be licensed to collect Denver's retailer's use tax. Denver no longer charges a fee for this license. The Treasury issues two-year licenses at the end of every odd year, usually sending renewals in November, and businesses with an eBiz account receive them electronically.
Denver's general sales tax rate is 5.15%, which with the state, RTD and special district taxes gives a combined 9.15% on most sales. Prepared food and drink is taxed at a lower Denver rate of 4%, for 8% combined. Employers also deal with Denver's occupational privilege tax, $4 a month per qualifying employee from the employer and $5.75 a month withheld from the employee.
Colorado Springs and other cities
Colorado Springs also has no general business license. The city licenses only 12 types of business, including concrete and excavation contractors, massage businesses, mobile food vendors, pawnbrokers, security companies and tree services, while liquor licensing goes through the City Clerk. Any business selling goods or taxable services in the city, whether from a shop, online, at special events or as a mobile vendor, needs a city sales tax license. Applications are made online through the city's sales tax portal, and there is no cost to apply. Construction contractors need a license from the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, which serves Colorado Springs and seven other jurisdictions, and home-based businesses may need a home occupation permit from City Planning.
Other cities set their own rules: some require a general business license for every business inside city limits, others license only specific activities, and counties license certain activities in unincorporated areas. Always check the city where your business is physically located and every home-rule city where you make sales or deliveries.
Setting up a Colorado business step by step
- 1
Choose a name and structure
LLC registration guideSearch the Secretary of State business database. Sole proprietors using a name other than their own file a statement of trade name ($20).
- 2
Line up a registered agent
Yourself, a Colorado resident with a Colorado ID, or a commercial agent. Get their consent and Colorado ID number first.
- 3
File with the Secretary of State
Articles of organization or incorporation, $50 online. Diary your periodic report month.
- 4
Register with the Department of Revenue
Use MyBizColorado or CR 0100 for a sales tax license ($16 plus $50 deposit in the first half of an even year) and wage withholding.
- 5
Check DORA and local requirements
Get any professional license, then the city's activity license, home-rule sales tax license, zoning and inspections.
Worked examples
A two-member LLC opening a retail gift shop in Denver in March 2026. State: $50 articles, a state sales tax license at $16 plus the $50 deposit, for $66 to the Department of Revenue, and a $25 periodic report each year. City: a Denver sales and use tax license with no fee; no Denver activity license unless the shop also sells something on the directory, such as alcohol. Upfront government cost: $116, with $50 of it coming back once the shop has paid $50 of state sales tax.
A freelance web developer in Colorado Springs, working alone from home as a sole proprietor under the name "Pikes Code". She files a statement of trade name for $20. Because nearly all her income comes from services, she checks with the Department of Revenue and the city's Sales Tax Office whether anything she sells is taxable before deciding whether she needs state and city sales tax licenses, and she asks City Planning whether her home office needs a home occupation permit. She is not a reporting entity, so she files no periodic report.
An out-of-state LLC hiring its first remote employee in Boulder. It files a foreign entity statement of authority for $100, appoints a Colorado registered agent, registers for wage withholding through MyBizColorado, and files a $25 periodic report each year. It does not need a sales tax license unless it sells taxable goods into Colorado.
Check sales tax at a Colorado rate
Common mistakes and how to fix them
The first mistake is budgeting $10 for the periodic report. It has been $25 since July 1, 2024, and paying the wrong amount gets the filing rejected.
The second is naming an individual registered agent without a Colorado ID. Since 2024, the filing needs the agent's Colorado driver's license or ID number, or the agent must go through residency verification and obtain a passcode first. Start that early, because the review can take several business days.
The third is assuming the state sales tax license covers every city. It does not cover home-rule cities, such as Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora and Boulder, which license and collect their own sales tax. Check the Department's list of home-rule jurisdictions and SUTS participants for every city where you sell.
The fourth is ignoring a noncompliant status. You have until the end of the second month after your report month, then two more months with a late penalty, before the entity becomes delinquent. Once delinquent, file the statement curing delinquency promptly, ideally within 400 days, so that you keep your name.
The fifth is forgetting the odd-year renewal of the state sales tax license. Every license expires on December 31 of an odd-numbered year, so the next deadline is December 31, 2027.
Official Colorado links
- Secretary of State — Business organizationsFile, search and periodic reports
- Business organizations fee schedule
- Registered agent FAQs
- MyBizColoradoState tax registrations online
- Department of Revenue — Standard retail license
- Denver — Business licenses directory
- Colorado Springs — Business Navigator FAQs
What to do next
Set up your entity with our LLC registration guide, or a trade name with our DBA guide. Line up your registered agent before you file, then open state tax accounts through MyBizColorado and check each city where you will sell. Our business licenses overview compares Colorado with states that do have a general license, and the sales tax calculator helps you price at local combined rates.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.
Frequently asked questions
No. Colorado has no general statewide business license. Most businesses instead register with the Secretary of State, get a state sales tax license from the Department of Revenue if they sell taxable goods, obtain any professional license from DORA, and check whether their city or county requires a license for their type of business or its own sales tax license.
The state license fee is $16 if you apply between January and June of an even-numbered year, and less later in the two-year cycle: $12, $8 or $4. New accounts also pay a $50 deposit, refunded once you have collected and paid $50 of state sales tax. Licenses expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years.
The periodic report costs $25 online, up from $10 since July 1, 2024. You can file from two months before to two months after your periodic report month without penalty. After that the entity becomes noncompliant, a $50 late penalty applies, and if it still is not filed the entity becomes delinquent.
An individual who is at least 18, lives in or has a usual place of business in Colorado, and holds a valid Colorado driver's license or ID card or verifies residency with the Secretary of State. Or an entity in good standing with a usual place of business in Colorado. The agent must consent, and only one agent can be appointed.
Denver does not issue an all-purpose business license. Its Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection licenses specific activities, such as body art, child care, liquor, marijuana, short-term rentals and security services. Most businesses that sell taxable goods or services in Denver still need a Denver sales and use tax license, which no longer carries a fee.
Yes, if you are 18 or older, live in Colorado or have a usual place of business there, and can provide a Colorado driver's license or ID number or verify your residency. An entity can also act as its own registered agent, but only after it is registered and in good standing, by filing a statement of change.
Sources & verification
Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify
- 1.Business Organizations Fee Schedule — Colorado Secretary of State · accessed 9 October 2026
- 2.Periodic reports — Business FAQs — Colorado Secretary of State · accessed 9 October 2026
- 3.News release — periodic report fee change (June 2024) — Colorado Secretary of State · accessed 9 October 2026
- 4.Delinquency — Business FAQs — Colorado Secretary of State · accessed 9 October 2026
- 5.Registered agent — Business FAQs — Colorado Secretary of State · accessed 9 October 2026
- 6.Starting a business — Business FAQs — Colorado Secretary of State · accessed 9 October 2026
- 7.Standard Retail License — Colorado Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
- 8.Sales Tax Guide — Colorado Department of Revenue · accessed 9 October 2026
- 9.Business Tax FAQs — City and County of Denver · accessed 9 October 2026
- 10.Business licenses directory — City and County of Denver · accessed 9 October 2026
- 11.COS Business Navigator FAQs — City of Colorado Springs · accessed 9 October 2026
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