HB1189-HB1199 Ritter's Dirty Dozen tax bills

Governor Ritter signed nine of the “Dirty Dozen” tax bills. One HB1198 was killed in committee when it was discovered it would eliminate Colorado’s Alternative Minimum Tax. The other two HB1197 and HB1200 are still in the works.

These bills are job-killers and show a basic ignorance of Economics 101. If you want less of something, tax it. Raise taxes=increased cost of goods and services, passed onto consumers, who will purchase less in a recession. Kennedy, Reagan and Bush all proved it: the economy grows when tax rates are low.

STATUS: The House and Senate both voted on the same day, and Ritter signed them without the usual public ceremony the next day. All are effective March 1, 2010 Passed into law:

HB 1189 “Advertising Tax” Makes direct mail advertising materials subject to state sales tax.

HB 1190 “Energy Tax” Makes all energy that used for processing, manufacturing, mining, refining, irrigation, building construction, telegraph, telephone, and radio communication, street and railroad transportation services, and all industrial uses subject to state sales tax.

HB 1191 “Sugar Tax” Makes candy and soft drinks purchased from retailers and vending machines subject to state sales tax. In some cases, the additional tax is more than the profit a vendor earns, as contracts are typically written for several years.

HB 1192 “Software Tax” Classifies software that you download from the Internet and software manually installed on a computer as tangible property so that it can be subject to state sales tax.

HB 1193 “Internet Tax” Makes items from out-of-state retailers purchased online subject to state sales tax.

HB 1194 “Carry-out Tax” Makes "nonessential" articles, containers, plastic spoons, napkins or bags subject to state sales tax. Do you want a bag with those fries?

HB 1195 “Farm Tax”Makes agricultural compounds (insecticides, fungicides, vaccines, hormones, and other animal drugs), bull semen, and pesticides used for agricultural production and caring for livestock subject to state sales tax, driving up food costs. Colorado is now one of only six states to charge farmers and ranchers sales tax for the inputs they use to produce food. The law creates an incentive to purchase pesticides and medicine online or from an out of state retailer. Ag is an industry that can’t pass costs on; we compete in a world market and are price takers. We accept the price offered by the buyer, and when competing farms located in Kansas and Nebraska don’t have the same costs it makes Colorado farmers less competitive and gives them an incentive to not pay these taxes.So what does this new tax mean in human terms? Well, if you are a full time farmer this bill will likely take $2000 to $6000 out of your pocket. That’s a lot of money. Jen Raiffie

HB 1196 “Green Tax” Repeals the tax credit for certain qualifying high mileage vehicles.

HB 1199, "Limit Loss Carry Forward" Temporarily limit the amount of net operating losses companies can carry forward on their taxes.

HB 1197 “Conservation Easement Tax” Reduces deductions for conservation easement donations. STATUS: 02/19/2010 Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Finance

HB 1200 the “Enterprise Zone Tax” Limits the amount of the credit that a taxpayer may claim for enterprise zone investments. STATUS: 01/22/2010 Introduced In House - Assigned to Appropriations