Aurora Colorado Occupational Privilege Tax: Final Returns and Refunds

The Aurora Colorado occupational privilege tax was repealed effective January 1, 2025. No employer or employee owes this tax for any work performed in Aurora from that date forward.¹ If you’re looking into it now, you’re probably trying to make sense of an old paystub deduction, fix a return for a prior period, or recover an overpayment. Aurora’s Tax and Licensing Division still handles all three for any period before January 2025.²

What the Tax Was and the Rates

Before repeal, the OPT was a flat monthly head tax. Any person who performed work within Aurora’s city limits during a calendar month and earned at least $250 in gross wages that month was subject to it. Aurora used the federal definition of “employee” under the Internal Revenue Code.¹

The rates never varied with income:

Employee portion: $2.00 per month, withheld from pay.
Employer portion: $2.00 per month for each taxable employee.
Total remitted to the city: $4.00 per employee per month.
Earnings threshold: $250 or more in gross earnings during the month.

Someone earning $250 and someone earning $25,000 both owed the same $2.00, and the employer owed $2.00 for each regardless of pay.¹ If you’re reconciling an old paystub, that $2.00 line is what you’re looking for.

Last Returns and Amending Old Filings

The final regular OPT returns covered December 2024 for monthly filers and the fourth quarter of 2024 for quarterly filers. Both were due January 31, 2025.²

Repeal didn’t close the books on earlier periods. If your business underreported employees, missed a filing, or needs to correct a return for any month before January 2025, you can still submit the corrected return through Aurora’s Tax and Licensing Portal at aurorataxportal.gentaxcpc.net. A business that owed the tax but never registered with Aurora may first need to obtain a city business license, since Aurora’s code required one for any entity doing business in the city before filings can be processed.²

Claiming a Refund for Overpayment

Businesses or individuals who overpaid OPT can file a Claim for Refund through the Tax and Licensing Portal. Licensed taxpayers log into their existing account; unlicensed taxpayers use the Citizen’s Refund Claim option. The claim needs documentation supporting the overpayment, including copies of canceled checks, original receipts, and a work paper itemizing amounts paid against amounts actually owed.³

If Aurora previously issued you an assessment or statement showing a credit balance, that credit could historically be applied to a future return. With no future OPT returns to apply it against, the practical step is to contact the Tax and Licensing Division directly about converting the credit into a refund. An unlicensed business that was required to hold an Aurora business license must obtain one before the city will process the refund claim.³

If the Employee Worked in More Than One City

Several Colorado cities, including Denver, had their own occupational privilege taxes. When a single employee worked for the same employer in Aurora and in another taxing city during the same month, both the employee and employer OPT went to whichever city the worker spent the most hours in. The tax was not split or paid twice.¹ This matters if you’re reviewing an old deduction that looks duplicated, or sorting out which city should have received the money for a worker you shared with another jurisdiction.

An employee with two Aurora employers in the same month could file a Withholding Certificate (AOPT Form) with the secondary employer to stop a second $2.00 from being withheld. Each Aurora employer still owed the $2.00 employer portion for that worker separately.¹

1
City of Aurora. Occupational Privilege Tax – City of Aurora
2
City of Aurora. Taxes – City of Aurora
3
City of Aurora. Claim for Refund – City of Aurora