Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Colorado Software Tax Bill Heads To Governor

An effort to tax software downloads--as well as sales of such items as candy and soda--is headed to Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, despite extensive lobbying efforts by local high tech firms. Colorado lawmakers passed HB1192 by three votes, removing a rule that exempted Internet downloads and other software from state sales tax. In a heated debate Tuesday, Rep. Jack Bommer, D-Boulder--one of the sponsors of the bills--claimed that "businesses don't care about Colorado" in encouraging passing of the bill. Groups such as the Colorado Software Industry Association (CSIA) have been outspoken about opposition to the bill. The CSIA said, despite the passing of the bill, that customized software, IT services and labor, and cloud-based, software-as-a-service is not being affected by the new tax.