T-Mobile Case ‘Sharpens Teeth’ of Colorado’s Taxpayer Rights Law

A Colorado Supreme Court ruling overturning a $1.64 million business and occupation tax imposed on a T-Mobile unit bolsters a state requirement that proposed local tax changes be put on the ballot and provides what practitioners say is needed clarity on the scope of the mandate.

The justices’ unanimous opinion earlier this week held that two updates to the city of Lakewood’s tax on telephone service created liabilities for additional classes of providers that offer additional types of services—exactly the type of new tax that requires a vote under Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).

The 1992 state constitutional amendment ...