Colorado Paycheck & Income Tax Calculator

How Colorado income tax works

Colorado applies a flat 4.4%, but the interesting part is what it applies it to. Most states start from gross income and then subtract their own deduction or exemption. Colorado starts from your federal taxable income — the figure you arrive at after the federal standard deduction — and taxes that.

The practical effect is that Colorado has no deduction of its own to claim. A single filer on $75,000 subtracts the federal standard deduction of $16,100, leaving $58,900, and Colorado’s 4.4% applies to that. This is why Colorado’s effective state rate is noticeably lower than its headline rate at modest incomes: the federal deduction shelters a meaningful slice before the state ever sees it.

It also means Colorado’s tax moves when federal rules move. When the federal standard deduction rose sharply, Colorado’s tax base narrowed automatically, without the legislature doing anything.

The paid-leave premium on your payslip

Colorado runs a state paid family and medical leave program, FAMLI, and employees pay for part of it directly.

For 2026 the total premium is 0.88% of wages, down from 0.9%, split evenly between employer and employee. Your share is 0.44%, applied to wages up to $184,500 — the same cap as Social Security. On a $75,000 salary that is $330 a year.

It is a small figure but a real one, and a take-home estimate without it is optimistic by exactly that much. It appears in the breakdown above as a separate line.

Some Colorado cities also levy an occupational privilege tax on people who work there — a flat few dollars a month rather than a percentage. It is too small and too local to model, but it is not nothing if you work in Denver or Aurora.

Take-home pay at every salary in Colorado

After federal tax, the flat 4.4% state tax, FICA and the FAMLI premium.

What lands in your account each payday

On $75,000 a year in Colorado, filing single, split across the pay schedules employers actually use.

Why the Colorado rate keeps moving

If you have seen Colorado’s income tax quoted as 4.4%, 4.25% and 4.4% again across different years, nothing is wrong — the rate genuinely moves, and the reason is unique to this state.

Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights caps how much revenue the state may keep. Collect more than the cap and the surplus must be returned, and one of the mechanisms for returning it is a temporary reduction in the income tax rate for that year alone. The statutory rate stays at 4.4%; the rate actually assessed in a given year can come in below it.

This matters when comparing Colorado against other states. A single year’s assessed rate is not a reliable basis for a long-term decision, because the refund mechanism depends on state revenue rather than on any permanent change in policy. The figures on this page use the statutory 4.4%.

Dates that matter for the 2026 tax year

Colorado returns (Form DR 0104) are due April 15, 2027, matching the federal deadline. Colorado grants an automatic six-month filing extension without a request, though any tax owed is still due in April. Estimated payments, if required, fall quarterly in April, June, September and the following January. The rate on this page applies to income earned between January 1 and December 31, 2026.

Questions people ask

What is the Colorado income tax rate for 2026?

A flat 4.4%. Colorado has no brackets — the same rate applies to every dollar of taxable income, whatever you earn.

Does Colorado have its own standard deduction?

No. Colorado uses federal taxable income as its starting point, so the federal standard deduction does the work — $16,100 for a single filer in 2026, $32,200 filing jointly. There is no separate Colorado deduction or personal exemption to claim.

What is the FAMLI deduction on my Colorado paycheck?

Colorado's Family and Medical Leave Insurance premium. For 2026 the total premium is 0.88% of wages, split evenly between employer and employee, so 0.44% comes out of your pay. It applies to wages up to $184,500, the Social Security wage cap.

Does any Colorado city charge a local income tax?

No Colorado municipality levies an income tax on wages. Some cities charge a small flat occupational privilege tax on people who work there, typically a few dollars a month, which is not modeled here.

Why do I keep seeing different Colorado tax rates?

Because the rate genuinely moves. Under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, surplus state revenue is refunded to taxpayers, and one mechanism is a temporary cut to the income tax rate for a single year. The statutory rate is 4.4%, but individual years have been assessed lower.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, and the salary you type is never sent to a server or stored. It never leaves your device.