Why taxpayers may get extra money in their TABOR refunds next year

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DENVER (KDVR) — Earlier this year, a statewide audit discovered a multi-million dollar mistake resulting in taxpayers being owed millions more in TABOR refunds, but the state isn’t paying up just yet.

The state audit found the issue stemmed from the Health Insurance Affordability Enterprise, a bill created in 2020 that charges tax on health insurance premiums, making health insurance cheaper across the state.

Over the past few years, the Office of the State Controller treated the insurance premium taxes sent to the enterprise as exempt from TABOR. However, the audit and the attorney general concluded that this money was state TABOR revenue.

In short, the audit found that the state owes taxpayers $33.9 million, however, you won’t see that money for at least half a year.

According to the state, the refund should come during the next TABOR refund, which would be at the start of 2025 at the earliest.

“It will be refunded to taxpayers and accounted for in next year’s refund calculations and distributed like all other TABOR refunds,” said Deputy Press Secretary Eric Maruyama.

While this means more refunds during the next tax season, it doesn’t necessarily mean a lot more is going back to the taxpayers.

For TABOR refunds in 2024, it was estimated that some $3.28 billion would be returned to Colorado taxpayers, totaling around $847 for single filers and $1,694 for those who file jointly.

So, for only $34 million split between all taxpayers, the cashback will be significantly less, but still a small bonus along with next year’s yet-to-be-determined TABOR refunds.