Boulder, CO Short-Term Rentals: Taxes & Fees (2026)

Section 3-15-1 sets the legislative intent behind Chapter 3-15: to level the playing field between short-term rentals and traditional lodging by taxing private-residence stays at the same rate hotels and motels pay under the separate public accommodations tax in Chapter 3-3. Section 3-15-2 sets the actual rate, an excise tax of seven and one-half percent on the price paid for short-term rental lodging services, and exempts anyone already subject to the Chapter 3-3 public accommodations tax from double taxation. Section 3-15-3 places the payment duty on the person paying for short-term lodging and a parallel collection-and-remittance duty on the retailer, meaning the host or the booking platform handling the transaction, and puts the burden of proving any transaction is not taxable on whoever is claiming the tax does not apply.

Section 3-15-5 carves out specific exemptions: the federal government, the State of Colorado and its political subdivisions acting in a governmental capacity and paying directly by government account, and religious, charitable, and quasi-governmental organizations that hold an exempt organization license under Section 3-2-12 and pay directly without reimbursement. Even exempt entities remain subject to the underlying duty to collect and remit the tax; the exemption only removes their obligation to pay it. Boulder's ordinance history shows the city repealed the chapter's original licensing, reporting, and refund procedures in 2018 via Ordinance No. 8237, folding short-term rental tax administration into the city's broader tax enforcement framework rather than keeping a standalone procedure.