Sales tax in Colorado for med spas
Colorado taxes retail goods and a short list of services — commercial gas and electricity, telephone service, lodging and prepared food. The Department of Revenue’s guide says sales of services are generally not taxable, so neuromodulator, filler, laser, microneedling and facial treatments carry no state tax. Home-rule cities write their own codes; Denver’s does not reach treatments either, but check yours.
Retail is taxed everywhere: 2.9% state, plus county, RTD and cultural district where they apply, plus the city — 9.15% in Denver, about 9.2% in Boulder, 8.3% in Fort Collins, 8.2% in Colorado Springs and 8% in the Arapahoe County part of Aurora inside the RTD. The city share goes on a city return (or through the SUTS portal), the rest on Form DR 0100. Prescription drugs and medical materials you furnish to the patient are exempt, so your neuromodulator order is; gloves, masks and single-use supplies you consume are taxable to you.
In Cherry Creek, a $650 neuromodulator treatment, a $140 serum and a $38 sunscreen on one ticket: only the $178 of retail is taxed, $178 × 9.15% = $16.29, of which $9.17 is Denver’s 5.15% and $7.12 the state, RTD and district share at 4%. State returns are due the 20th — monthly at $1,100 or more of tax a month, quarterly between $50 and $1,100 — and the state service fee ended January 1, 2026. Our med spa sales tax guide covers packages and gift cards.
Who can own a med spa in Colorado (CPOM and supervision, summarized)
This is a summary, not legal advice. C.R.S. 12-240-138 says “corporations shall not practice medicine”: a professional service corporation for medicine may issue shares only to Colorado-licensed physicians actively practicing at its offices, physician assistants may hold a minority, and lay directors may not exercise any authority over medical judgment. A non-physician owner therefore usually pairs a management company with a physician-owned professional entity — see our MSO and professional-entity guide. HB26-1249 would have opened a medical-aesthetic professional corporation to RNs, NPs, PAs and estheticians; a House committee killed it on March 25, 2026.
Medical Board Rule 1.17 (3 CCR 713-1) treats injecting any substance and using a Class IIIb or higher laser, radio-frequency or IPL device as medical services an unlicensed person may perform only under a delegating physician who verifies training, observes the delegatee before unsupervised work, is on the premises or (with written protocols) off-site in Colorado and able to attend, visits at least every two weeks, reviews every chart within 14 days and reassesses annually. Estheticians may not inject or fire medical lasers.
Since HB25-1024 took effect in 2025, a practice using delegated medical-aesthetic services must post the delegating practitioner’s name, license number and contact information, disclose the delegation online and in advertising, and keep signed consent forms for seven years. Confirm all of it with a health-care attorney licensed in Colorado.
State business taxes for a Colorado med spa entity
Colorado taxes income at one flat rate, 4.4% for 2026, whether LLC and S corporation profit on the owner’s Form DR 0104 or C corporation income on Form DR 0112. TABOR can trim the rate after a fiscal year closes with a surplus above $300 million; it did not for 2025 and none is forecast for 2026. There is no franchise, gross receipts or net worth tax; the $25 periodic report is the only entity-level fee.
The change to plan for is Amendment 87. On November 3, 2026 voters approved it narrowly (preliminary results, roughly 51% yes) and the competing 4.4% cap, Proposition 136, failed. From tax year 2027 the rate is graduated: 3.7% on the first $25,000 of taxable income, 4.2% to $100,000, 4.4% to $500,000, 7.4% to $750,000, 7.9% to $1,000,000 and 8.4% above, with no indexing, applied to individuals and businesses per the Blue Book. An owner under $500,000 of Colorado taxable income pays slightly less; one with $800,000 pays several thousand dollars more, which makes S corporation salary planning and retirement contributions worth more in 2027.
The SALT Parity Act lets a partnership or S corporation pay the tax at the entity level so the owner deducts it federally despite the $40,000 SALT cap: annual, irrevocable, binding on every owner, elected on Form DR 0106 or in advance on DR 1705. We run it each year rather than electing by default; see our year-end planning checklist.
Payroll in Colorado for injectors and front desk
Colorado withholds state income tax at 4.4% using the DR 1098 worksheet; employees may add a Colorado DR 0004 to their federal W-4. You file quarterly under $7,000 of annual withholding, monthly from $7,000 to $50,000 (due the 15th) and weekly above that; W-2s go to the state by January 31.
Unemployment insurance liability starts at $1,500 of wages in a quarter or an employee in 20 weeks, with quarterly wage reports in MyUI Employer+. The 2026 chargeable wage base is $30,600 ($32,100 in 2027) and a new non-construction employer pays a combined 3.05% — 1.53% base, 0.17% support surcharge, 1.35% solvency surcharge — so a full-time injector costs $933.30 a year.
FAMLI, the paid family and medical leave program, costs 0.88% of wages for 2026, split evenly between employer and employee; a practice with nine or fewer employees pays only the 0.44% employee share and may deduct all of it from wages. Paid sick leave accrues at one hour per 30 worked, up to 48 hours a year. Denver’s occupational privilege tax takes $5.75 a month from each employee earning $500 or more and $4 from you per employee and per owner. With five or more employees and two years in business you must offer a retirement plan or enroll in Colorado SecureSavings. Injectors are W-2 under the IRS common-law test; see how we structure injector pay.
Registrations, filings and deadlines checklist for a Colorado med spa
Fees checked November 2026; licensing rows summarize, not advise.
| Item | Where | Fee / due date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form the entities | Colorado Secretary of State, online | $50 articles, LLC or corporation | SOS fee schedule |
| Periodic report, each entity | Secretary of State | $25; anniversary month, two months’ grace either side; $50 late penalty | SOS |
| State sales tax license | MyBizColorado / Revenue Online | $16 plus $50 deposit; expires Dec. 31 of odd years; returns due the 20th | DOR Sales Tax Guide |
| City sales tax license and returns | Each home-rule city, directly or via SUTS | Set by each city; filed separately | DR 1002 |
| Wage withholding account | MyBizColorado | Quarterly, monthly or weekly by annual withholding; W-2s Jan. 31 | DOR |
| Unemployment premiums | MyUI Employer+ (CDLE) | At $1,500 quarterly wages or 20 weeks; 3.05% on first $30,600 (2026) | CDLE |
| FAMLI premiums | My FAMLI+ Employer | 0.88% of wages, or 0.44% with nine or fewer employees; headcount by Feb. 28 | CDLE FAMLI |
| Denver occupational privilege tax | Denver eBiz Tax Center | $5.75 employee plus $4.00 employer per month, at $500 of monthly pay | Denver Treasury |
| Colorado SecureSavings | State Treasurer | At five or more employees and two years in business without a plan | COCPA |
| Workers’ compensation | Private carrier | Required of Colorado employers; confirm with your carrier | CDLE |
| Clinical filings | Colorado Medical Board | Rule 1.17 delegation agreements; HB25-1024 posted disclosure; no facility license exists | 3 CCR 713-1 |
Federal items are in our opening checklist.
How we work with Colorado med spas from Tampa
Onboarding is remote: a 20-minute fit call, then read-only access to your bank, processor and POS. We pull exports from Boulevard, Zenoti, Aesthetic Record, Vagaro, Mindbody, Nextech or PatientNow into QuickBooks Online, split revenue by service line and retail, and close the books by the tenth business day. Colorado is two hours behind Tampa, so we hold afternoon hours for Front Range calls.
We file the state DR 0100 and the city sales tax returns, withholding returns, MyUI Employer+ wage reports, FAMLI premiums, Denver OPT, the SALT Parity election when it pays, and the state and federal returns for every entity. You keep the local pieces: your Colorado health-care attorney, Medical Board delegation paperwork, the posted disclosure, workers’ comp, and signing what we prepare. Med Spa Core starts at $1,500 a month, month-to-month after onboarding; see pricing, the med spa service page or request a fit call.
A Colorado example
Illustrative only: a single-location Cherry Creek practice, a physician-owned professional corporation taxed as an S corporation, with $1,600,000 of revenue, seven employees paid $520,000 and $420,000 of owner profit.
- Sales tax. $180,000 of retail × 9.15% = $16,470 for the year, $9,270 to Denver at 5.15% and $7,200 to the state return at 4%. Tax on $1,420,000 of treatments: $0.
- Income tax. $420,000 reaches the owner’s DR 0104 at 4.4%: $18,480 for 2026. Under the Amendment 87 brackets the same income owes $18,155 in 2027; at $700,000 the 2027 bill would be $36,475 against $30,800 at the flat rate.
- Unemployment premium. The first injector, paid $85,000, costs 3.05% × $30,600 = $933.30 plus $42 of federal FUTA; all seven employees, $6,533.10.
- FAMLI and Denver OPT. With fewer than ten employees the practice pays 0.44% × $520,000 = $2,288 and withholds the same from staff. Denver OPT costs the practice $4 × 8 × 12 = $384 a year.