Colorado Shortened Income Tax Forms and No Criminal Penalties Initiative (2018)
| Colorado Shortened Income Tax Forms and No Criminal Penalties Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Taxes | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Shortened Income Tax Forms and No Criminal Penalties Initiative (#83, #62) was not on the ballot in Colorado as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018.
The measure was designed to require the creation and use of a new four-line state income tax return form. The measure would have required the first line of the new form to list federal taxable income multiplied by 4.6 percent, the measure's beginning tax rate. The measure would have also decreased the 4.6 percent income tax rate by 0.1 percent for the next six election years until it reaches 4.0 percent. As of October 2017, Colorado's income tax rate was a flat 4.63 percent. The second line on the new form would have listed a flat dollar amount that is equal to a residents returns times all state income tax credits in 2018, all state tobacco settlement revenue, all state registration fees over $10 per vehicle, all non-federal revenue to state enterprises started after 2000 without voter approval, and all excess revenue retained by use of Referendum C. The measure would have required line three of the new form to list all prepaid state income tax, and 4.6 percent of income subtractions and income not from Colorado sources. Line four of the new form would list the net amount of state income tax due or the amount of a refund due. That number would be derived by subtracting the amounts in lines two and three from the amount in line one.
Additionally, the measure was designed to require all state income tax criminal cases, previous or pending, to be dismissed. Future penalties for income tax violations would have been civil cases or fines. The measure also specified that no property shall be seized before a final court judgment for income tax due and that the state shall not pursue tax deficits under $20.[1]
Proponents filed multiple versions of this initiative.
Text of measure
Full text
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Colorado, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 5 percent of the total number of votes cast for the office of Colorado secretary of state in the preceding general election. State law provides that petitioners have six months to collect signatures after the ballot language and title are finalized. State statutes require a completed signature petition to be filed three months and three weeks before the election at which the measure would appear on the ballot. The Constitution, however, states that the petition must be filed three months before the election at which the measure would appear. The secretary of state generally lists a date that is three months before the election as the filing deadline.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2018 ballot:
- Signatures: 98,492 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was August 6, 2018.
The secretary of state is responsible for signature verification. Verification is conducted through a review of petitions regarding correct form and then a 5 percent random sampling verification. If the sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required valid signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If the sampling projects more than 110 percent of the required signatures, the initiative is certified. If less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.
Details about this initiative
Mike Spalding and Marty Neilson submitted two versions of this initiative to the Colorado Legislative Counsel and then to secretary of state. Version # 62 on October 18, 2017, and version #83 on November 24, 2017.
The ballot title setting board initially set the title for version #83 on December 6, 2017, and then held a rehearing and amended the ballot title on December 20, 2017. The petition format was approved, and the initiative was cleared for signature gathering on January 10, 2018. June 28, 2018, was set as the initiative-specific deadline to submit signatures.[2]
On November 15, 2017, the ballot title setting board determined that version #62 met the single-subject rule required by the state of Colorado and set a ballot title. A rehearing by the board was held on December 6, 2017, and adjustments to the title were made.<ref name=SoS>
The measure did not qualify for the November 2018 ballot because it had either (a) never been cleared for signature gathering, (b) was abandoned by sponsors, or (c) otherwise reached a certain stage in the initiative process, but did not make the ballot.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Colorado Denver (capital) |
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