The Glendale, CO sales tax rate is 8.0% on taxable retail purchases inside city limits. Of that total, 3.75% goes to the city itself, which collects its own sales tax as a home-rule municipality rather than routing it through the Colorado Department of Revenue. If you sell in Glendale, you register, file, and pay the city’s share directly to the Glendale Tax Department.
How the 8.0% Rate Breaks Down
Five separate jurisdictions stack to produce the combined rate on a Glendale receipt:
- City of Glendale: 3.75%
- State of Colorado: 2.9%
- Regional Transportation District (RTD): 1.0%
- Arapahoe County: 0.25%
- Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD): 0.1%
The city’s 3.75% is set by Glendale Municipal Code Chapter 3.20 and applies to retail sales of taxable goods and services within city boundaries.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax The 2.9% state rate is set by Colorado statute.2Department of Revenue – Taxation. Sales Tax Guide The city publishes the full breakdown on its sales tax page.3Glendale, CO. Sales Tax
What Glendale Taxes
Chapter 3.20 reaches past physical merchandise. Along with tangible personal property sold at retail, the city taxes:1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax
- Telecommunications service billed to a Glendale account, whether intrastate, interstate, or international.
- Electricity and gas sold for residential or commercial use.
- Prepared food and drink served at restaurants, cafes, hotels, and similar places.
- Pay and cable television subscriptions.
- Computer software, including design, development, maintenance, and electronic downloads.
- Lodging at hotels, motels, and similar properties.
Every retail sale is presumed taxable unless the seller can document an exemption. When in doubt, collecting the tax and letting the buyer pursue a refund is the safer route.
What’s Exempt
Groceries for home consumption are not subject to Glendale’s 3.75%. The city uses the federal Food and Nutrition Act definition of “food,” so items that qualify under that definition carry no city sales tax. Restaurant meals stay fully taxable.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax
Other exemptions in Chapter 3.20:
- Direct sales to the U.S. government, the state of Colorado, and their political subdivisions acting in a governmental role.
- Direct sales to qualified charities performing their regular charitable work, excluding building materials.
- Cigarettes, which carry separate excise taxes.
- Motor fuel on which Colorado gasoline or special fuel tax has already been paid.
- Wholesale sales and goods purchased for resale.
- Construction materials, when the buyer presents a building permit showing local use tax has been or will be paid.
- Goods already taxed by another Colorado municipality at 3.75% or more. If the other city’s rate was lower, Glendale gives credit for what was already paid.
Separately stated labor or service charges are also exempt, provided the service isn’t one of the specifically taxable services listed in the code. Manufacturing and fabrication labor does not qualify.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax
Use Tax on Purchases Brought Into Glendale
Buy something outside Glendale and bring it into the city for use, storage, or consumption without paying the city’s sales tax, and you owe use tax at the same 3.75% rate. Credit is given for sales or use tax already paid to another municipality: if you paid 3.0% elsewhere, you owe Glendale the 0.75% difference; if you paid 3.75% or more, you owe nothing further.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax
Construction Equipment
Equipment kept in Glendale more than 30 consecutive days is subject to the full use tax on its purchase price. Equipment present for 30 days or fewer is prorated: purchase price multiplied by one-twelfth, then by 3.75%.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax
Registering a Business and Getting a Sales Tax License
Before your first taxable sale, you need two things from the city: a business registration and a sales tax license. The business registration costs $10. Retailers and anyone remitting sales or use tax pay an additional $15 sales tax application fee.4Glendale, CO. Business Registration and Sales Tax Application
Applications go to the Glendale Tax Department at 950 South Birch Street, Glendale, CO 80246, by mail, or through the city’s MUNIRevs portal online. You’ll need your FEIN, your business structure, your physical operating location, and the names and addresses of officers or partners. The 2026 application form is on the city’s website as a PDF.4Glendale, CO. Business Registration and Sales Tax Application
Filing and Paying
Licensed businesses file a Glendale Sales and Use Tax Return on a schedule the Tax Department assigns based on your tax volume, typically monthly, quarterly, or annual. Returns and payments are due by the 20th of the month after the reporting period closes. When the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday, the due date moves to the next business day.
You can file and pay online at glendale.munirevs.com, which runs 24/7 and also handles occupational privilege tax and admissions tax returns.5Glendale. Glendale MUNIRevs Portal Paper returns with a mailed check are also accepted.
Vendor Service Fee Change for 2026
Starting January 1, 2026, retailers can no longer retain a portion of the state’s 2.9% as a vendor service fee. Colorado previously allowed vendors to keep a small percentage as compensation for collecting state tax; that ended at the start of 2026. Retailers may still be eligible to retain service fees on local jurisdiction taxes, depending on each authority’s rules.6Department of Revenue – Taxation. Service Fee
Penalties for Late or Missing Returns
Glendale’s penalties climb quickly:
- Late filing: $100 per month per return, capped at $500.
- Negligent underpayment: 10% of the deficiency or $15, whichever is greater, plus 18% annual interest on the unpaid balance.
- Fraud: 100% of the total deficiency.
- Repeat enforcement: if the city has pursued you three or more times, an added 15% (or $25, whichever is greater) on top of taxes, interest, and penalties already owed.
The Tax Inspector may waive penalties for good cause. Interest is never waived and runs at 18% a year until the city changes the rate by ordinance.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax
Records You Need to Keep
Keep invoices, sales records, and transaction documentation for at least three years. The Tax Inspector can examine them within that window, and a business that can’t produce records loses the ability to dispute what the inspector calculates is owed.1eCode360. City of Glendale, CO Municipal Code – Chapter 3.20 Sales and Use Tax