By Loretta Huff
While Loretta is a member of the Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC), these articles reflect Loretta's personal understanding and do not represent positions of the CBAC.
Thank you to the Golden Finance Department for verifying these examples and providing ongoing education. The rules are the same whether it is an individual or a business making the purchase. In each scenario below, I could be a resident or a business owner within the City limits.
- I buy $100 of office supplies at Safeway within the city limits. Safeway charges me City sales tax and remits the $3 tax to the City. Therefore, no Use Tax payment is required. This $3 would be remitted as Sales Tax by Safeway.
- I buy $100 of office supplies at Office Max at Denver West in unincorporated Jefferson County. Office Max would not collect City of Golden sales tax. I owe the city $3 in Use Tax.
- I buy $100 of office supplies at Office Depot in the City of Lakewood. Office Depot would collect the City of Lakewood’s 3% sales tax not the City of Golden’s 3% sales tax. This is the tricky one to me. If sales tax is paid to another municipality, I do not owe additional Use Tax to Golden under Section 3.03.050(b) of the Golden Municipal Code. Arvada, Littleton, and Wheat Ridge all have City Sales Tax higher than Golden's 3%. Therefore, I wouldn't owe Use Tax to Golden for purchases in these nearby cities.
- I buy $100 of office supplies from Amazon and have it delivered. Amazon charges me City Sales Tax and remits the $3 to the City.
The same rules apply whether the purchase is a $100 expense item or a $100,000 piece of machinery.
Cities, including Golden, generally focus enforcement on larger purchases or permit-based projects. This leads to the next topic: Building Use Tax, a special case of Use Tax associated with projects requiring a building permit.
