2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 42 - VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC (§§ 42-1-101 — 42-21-106) › TAXATION (§§ 42-3-101 — 42-3-314) › Article 3 - REGISTRATION, TAXATION, AND LICENSE PLATES (§§ 42-3-101 — 42-3-314) › Part 3 - FEES AND CASH FUNDS (§§ 42-3-301 — 42-3-314) › Section 42-3-308 - Taxpayer statements - payment of tax - estimates - penalties - deposits - delinquency proceedings

(1)
(a)
Every owner or operator of a motor vehicle operated on a public highway of this state and required to pay the passenger-mile tax imposed by sections
42-3-304
and
42-3-306
shall, on or before the twenty-fifth day of each month, file with the department, on forms prescribed by the department and the public utilities commission, a statement, subject to the penalties for perjury in the second degree, showing the name and address of the owner of the motor vehicle, total miles traveled, and total number of passengers carried in this state during the preceding month and such other information as required by the department and the commission and shall compute and pay such tax; except that the executive director of the department may authorize the filing of statements and the payment of tax for periods in excess of one month but not to exceed a period of twelve months.
(b)
If payment of the tax so computed is not made on or before the due date, there shall be added a penalty of three percent per month until such time as the full amount has been paid; but the executive director of the department may waive all or any portion of the penalty for good cause.
(2)
If the owner or operator of a motor vehicle, required to file a statement as provided in subsection (1) of this section, fails, neglects, or refuses to file the statement and to pay the tax due, the department may estimate the amount of tax due for the period for which no statement was filed, add a penalty of ten percent plus one-half of one percent per month after the date when due, not to exceed eighteen percent in the aggregate, and mail the estimate to the last-known address of such owner or operator. The amount so estimated, together with the penalty, shall become fixed, due, and payable ten days after the date of mailing, unless such owner or operator, within the ten days, files and pays a true and correct statement of the tax due for the period.
(3)
(a)
If an owner or operator of a vehicle knowingly makes and files with the department a false or fraudulent statement with intent to evade payment of any passenger-mile tax due, the department shall, as soon as it discovers the false or fraudulent nature of such statement, make an investigation and determine the correct amount of tax due, add a penalty of one hundred percent, and proceed to collect the total amount by distraint and sale as provided in section
39-21-114
, C.R.S. If an owner or operator disputes the amount asserted to be due and payable, that owner or operator shall be entitled to a hearing before the executive director of the department, and the decision of the executive director shall be subject to judicial review.
(b)
A person who willfully fails or refuses to make the report required by this section, or who makes a false or fraudulent return, or who willfully fails to pay any tax owed by such person commits a class A traffic infraction.
(4)
All passenger-mile taxes and penalties determined to be due from an owner or operator of a motor vehicle and not paid on the date when the same are due and payable shall become and remain a prior and perpetual lien upon all the personal property of such owner or operator until the full amount of the tax determined to be due, together with all penalties, has been paid. Nothing in this section shall be construed to abrogate or diminish the rights of bona fide purchasers, lienors, or pledgees for value and without notice.
(5)
Taxes collected pursuant to this section and any penalties or interest charges imposed pursuant to this section shall be credited to the highway users tax fund created in section
43-4-201
, C.R.S., as required by section
43-4-203 (1)(c)
, C.R.S., and allocated and expended as specified in section
43-4-205
(5.5)(d), C.R.S.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 462, § 722, eff. 3/1/2022.
L. 2005: (5) added, p. 148, § 23, effective April 5; entire article amended with relocations, p. 1167, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2010: (1)(a) amended, (SB 10-212), ch. 2037, p. 2037, § 15, effective July 1. L. 2021: (3)(b) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 3303, p. 3303, § 722, effective 3/1/2022.
(1) This section is similar to former § 42-3-136 as it existed prior to 2005.
(2) Subsection (5) was originally numbered as § 42-3-136(5), and the enactment of it in Senate Bill 05-041 was harmonized with § 42-3-308(5) as it appears in House Bill 05-1107.
(3) Section 803(2) of chapter 462 (SB 21-271), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.
2021 Ch. 462, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).