Denver — Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, the new chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, released the following statement after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced its decision not to tax Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) payments in 2022:

“The last thing Colorado families need right now is a $400 million tax increase. I'm relieved that the IRS heeded our call and won’t tax Coloradans' TABOR payments this year.

“The week-long uncertainty about whether the IRS was going to tax state refunds was a disaster. As chair of the Senate’s subcommittee on IRS oversight, I will demand answers for why the IRS explored this radical change, and why this took place in the middle of filing season. And as the IRS looks to the 2023 tax year, I will continue to fight to keep TABOR tax-free.”

This morning, Bennet called acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell and urged him to avoid further confusion in the middle of tax filing season and to continue the thirty year precedent of treating TABOR payments as nontaxable. He also joined the Colorado Congressional Delegation in a letter urging the acting Commissioner to treat TABOR revenue payments as nontaxable. Approved by voters in 1992, the TABOR Amendment mandated the State of Colorado to refund excess revenue generated by the state to Coloradans.