Traveling OUT of Colorado: If your business is located in Colorado, but you are traveling to shoot in another state, please review the sales tax requirements of that state.
Traveling INTO Colorado: If you are from another state and are traveling into Colorado to shoot, please follow the questions below to find out if you need to charge sales tax in Colorado.
When it comes to sales tax, you need to ask yourself three questions. We will walk you through those questions below:
If your business is located in Colorado and you are shooting in Colorado, you have nexus in Colorado.
If you are traveling from out of state to shoot in Colorado, you have nexus in Colorado.
The following items address sales tax where everything is happening in Colorado. If you have an out-of-state client, see the orange section below that talks about out-of-state clients.
This specifically refers to digital photos transferred digitally over the internet. Please note any digital images transferred via physical devices like USB drives, CDs, etc., are taxed as physical goods, and all physical goods are taxable.
<aside> 💡 Exception for Packages (Colorado Special Rule 34.5): Colorado has a special rule for photographers who sell packaged services and goods. They say "If this service is specifically bargained for without regard to the tangible personal property involved, and if the value of the service is greater than the property transferred, no tax is collected from the purchaser."
Since the value of a photographer's time and skill for the shoot far out values that of any photos included in the package, the entire package for the services and digital photos are not taxable. (See resources below for additional details)
</aside>
This covers anything physical you can touch, such as physical prints, albums, etc.