Colorado Waives Retail Delivery Fee for Qualified DTC Shipments

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation (SB 23-143) that creates an exemption from the $0.27 Retail Delivery Fee (RDF) for new and existing businesses. This includes California wineries that ship direct to consumers that had less than $500,000 in retail sales in Colorado in the previous year. The law also provides flexibility for compliance to those businesses not eligible to claim the exemption. Under the new law, businesses may elect to pay the fee on behalf of the purchaser without separately stating the fee amount on a receipt or invoice or collecting it directly from the customer. Prior to this change, as of July 1, 2022, retailers were required to list the RDF as a separate item on the receipt or invoice issued to the purchaser. The new law is effective immediately.

Wineries that are under the threshold of $500,000 in retail sales in the previous year should contact the Colorado Department of Revenue to claim the exemption and apply to close their RDF account. In addition, the RDF for businesses that don’t qualify for the exemption will increase to $0.28 on July 1, 2023, to adjust for inflation.