Colorado Estimated Tax Payments 2026: DR 0104EP Due Dates, the $1,000 Rule, the 70% Safe Harbor, and the 11% Penalty

Colorado estimated tax payments for 2026 are due April 15, June 15, September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027, paid through Revenue Online or with Form DR 0104EP, and you must make them when you expect to owe more than $1,000 of Colorado income tax after withholding and credits. Only the January 15, 2027 installment is still ahead. The amount that keeps you penalty-free is the smaller of 70% of your 2026 Colorado tax or 100% of your 2025 tax (110% if your 2025 federal AGI topped $150,000), and the rate stays at 4.4% because no TABOR surplus was certified for 2026. Short installments cost interest at 11% a year on Form DR 0204.

Key takeaways:

• 2026 due dates: April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, 2027, in four equal installments on Form DR 0104EP or through Revenue Online
• Estimates are required when 2026 net Colorado tax after withholding and credits is more than $1,000
• Safe harbor: the lesser of 70% of 2026 tax or 100% of 2025 tax, rising to 110% when 2025 federal AGI was over $150,000 ($75,000 married filing separately)
• The 2026 rate is 4.4% of Colorado taxable income; revenue came in $175.9 million under the Referendum C cap, so there is no temporary rate cut and no TABOR refund for tax year 2026
• Underpaid installments are charged interest at 11% a year for 2026 days, computed per quarter on DR 0204

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When Are Colorado Quarterly Tax Payments Due in 2026?

Colorado follows the federal calendar. The 2026 DR 0104EP lists four due dates, and the Department of Revenue's estimated payments page ties each one to a calendar quarter:

A due date that lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday moves to the next business day. The dates match federal Form 1040-ES, so one reminder covers both the IRS and the Colorado Department of Revenue, and the estimated tax due-dates tool shows both calendars side by side. If you carried a 2025 overpayment forward on your Colorado return, the DR 0104EP applies it to the first 2026 installment.

Farmers and fishermen, meaning anyone with at least two-thirds of gross income from farming or fishing in 2026 or 2025, make a single payment by January 15, 2027 for 50% of their net tax, or skip estimates entirely by filing and paying the full 2026 tax by March 1, 2027.

Who Has to Pay Colorado Estimated Taxes?

You must pay Colorado estimated tax if you expect to owe more than $1,000 in net Colorado tax for 2026 after subtracting withholding and credits, per the DR 0104EP general rule. The Department of Revenue describes estimated tax as the way to pay on income without withholding: self-employment earnings, interest, dividends, rent, and capital gains. Its shorthand is practical: if you file federal 1040-ES vouchers, you probably owe Colorado ones too.

"Net tax" has a specific meaning in the Individual Income Tax Guide, Part 6. It is your Colorado income tax plus any Colorado alternative minimum tax and credit recapture, minus every credit except wage withholding, nonresident real estate withholding, and estimated payments. Withholding then comes off when you test the $1,000 line, and on Form DR 0204 Colorado treats a quarter of your year's withholding as paid on each due date unless you prove the actual dates.

Two exceptions remove both the payments and the penalty. Taxpayers whose net tax minus withholding is under the $1,000 statutory exemption owe no estimates. So do full-year Colorado residents whose 12-month 2025 return showed no net Colorado tax liability, which protects a first-year freelancer who had a clean 2025.

Nonresidents and part-year residents are in scope for their Colorado-source income: Colorado taxes the Colorado share of a nonresident's income, apportioned on Form DR 0104PN. A Wyoming consultant who works on site in Denver runs the same $1,000 test on that apportioned tax.

Colorado's 70% Safe Harbor: Lower Than the IRS's 90%

Colorado asks for less than the IRS on the current-year side. Your payments are large enough if, in four equal installments, they reach the smaller of these amounts (DR 0104EP "Required Payments"; DR 0204, Part 2):

The IRS asks for 90% of the current year under IRC §6654. Georgia also uses 70%, but holds its prior-year option at a flat 100% for everyone; Colorado keeps the federal 110% tier for high earners.

Worked example. Leif, a single freelance product designer in Fort Collins, expects 2026 federal taxable income of $100,000 on roughly $151,800 of Schedule C profit, after the deductible half of self-employment tax, the $16,100 standard deduction, and the qualified business income deduction. He has no Colorado additions or subtractions, so his Colorado taxable income is also $100,000 and his 2026 Colorado tax is $4,400. His net 2025 Colorado tax was $3,600 and his 2025 AGI was under $150,000.

Here the current-year option wins. At 70%, it beats the 100% prior-year anchor whenever 2026 tax is less than about 43% higher than 2025 tax. The 70% route carries a risk the prior-year route does not: it is 70% of what Leif actually owes. If a late contract pushes his 2026 tax to $5,000, the requirement becomes the lesser of $3,500 or $3,600, so each installment should have been $875, and every quarter he paid $770 is $105 short. Paying $900 a quarter on the prior-year anchor would have been penalty-proof regardless of how 2026 ended.

Size Your Four DR 0104EP Payments

When the 70% safe harbor does NOT protect you

• Income higher than forecast. The 70% test uses your final 2026 tax, so a strong fourth quarter can retroactively make April, June, and September short
• One big January payment. DR 0204 tests each installment in its own column; a single January 15 payment leaves the first three quarters underpaid
• Uneven income without the annualized method. Colorado lets you annualize (17.5%, 35%, 52.5%, and 70% of annualized tax for the four periods, DR 0204 Part 4) only if you also annualize your federal estimates
• No 2025 Colorado return. New residents cannot use the prior-year options at all; 70% of 2026 tax is their only safe harbor

How to Calculate Colorado Estimated Tax on the DR 0104EP Worksheet

Colorado income tax is a flat percentage of Colorado taxable income, which starts from federal taxable income (Form 1040, line 15) and then adds and subtracts the Colorado modifications on Form DR 0104AD. The DR 0104EP worksheet turns that into a payment:

Because the base is federal taxable income, a Colorado freelancer keeps the federal standard deduction, the half of self-employment tax deduction, retirement contributions, and in most cases the QBI deduction. Leif's worksheet is short: $100,000 on line 1, $4,400 on lines 2, 5, 7, and 9, and nothing in between. His federal vouchers run separately on income tax plus 15.3% self-employment tax.

Is the Colorado income tax rate still 4.4% for 2026?

Yes. The 2026 DR 0104EP prints 4.4%, the rate in section 39-22-104, C.R.S. Colorado cuts the rate temporarily under section 39-22-627 only when a TABOR surplus is large enough, which is how tax year 2024 ended up at 4.25%. For 2026 the trigger did not fire: according to the Legislative Council Staff September 2026 forecast, the State Controller certified on September 8, 2026 that revenue fell $175.9 million short of the Referendum C cap, so no TABOR refunds will be paid for tax year 2026. Do not plan on a sales tax refund credit offsetting your 2026 balance either.

Two measures on the November 3, 2026 ballot touch the rate, and neither changes 2026 estimates. Amendment 87 would create a graduated income tax starting in 2027, and Proposition 136 would cap the rate at 4.4% beginning January 1, 2027, per the 2026 Blue Book.

The 2026 deduction limit for incomes above $300,000

From tax year 2026, a single or joint filer with federal AGI above $300,000 must add back on the Colorado return every dollar of the federal standard or itemized deduction above $1,000 (single) or $2,000 (joint), per Part 3 of the Individual Income Tax Guide. For 2023 through 2025 the limits were $12,000 and $16,000. The change comes from HB25-1274, the Healthy School Meals for All funding that voters approved as Proposition MM in November 2025.

Rosalie and Henrik, a Denver couple with $420,000 of 2026 AGI who take the $32,200 standard deduction, add back $30,200 and owe $1,328.80 more Colorado tax for 2026 than the same income would have cost without the addback. If their earlier vouchers ignored it and they rely on the 70% route, the January installment needs to absorb it. On the 110% prior-year anchor, the addback only raises the balance due in April 2027.

Three other addbacks on DR 0104AD can raise a 2026 estimate: the federal overtime deduction from Schedule 1-A, new for 2026 (tips are not added back), the QBI deduction for single filers with AGI over $500,000 or joint filers over $1,000,000, and any state income tax you deducted federally on Schedule A.

How to Pay Colorado Estimated Taxes Online or by Check

Revenue Online takes estimated payments by e-check or debit or credit card, and you do not need to log in. On the home page choose "Make a Payment", pick E-Check or Debit or Credit Card, select Individual Income Tax as the account type, enter your SSN or ITIN, enter 12/31/2026 as the filing period, and pick "Estimated Payment" as the payment type, per the Department's online payment instructions. A processing fee may apply, and the DR 0104EP is not required when you pay online. Electronic Funds Transfer is also available, but only after you register for it in advance. Your Revenue Online account shows the estimated payments the Department has recorded.

To pay by mail, send a check or money order payable to the "Colorado Department of Revenue" with the DR 0104EP payment form to Colorado Department of Revenue, Denver, CO 80261-0008. Write your SSN or ITIN and "2026 DR 0104EP" on the check, do not staple it, and never mail a check without the form. Couples who will file jointly pay under the name and SSN that will be listed first on the return; the Department credits the payment to that first SSN, and moving it later takes a written request filed before the DR 0104.

Colorado Estimated Tax Penalty: 11% a Year on Form DR 0204

The Colorado estimated tax penalty is interest by another name. Form DR 0204 charges the annual rate on each underpaid installment from its due date until you pay it or until the April 15 return due date, whichever comes first:

Source: Individual Income Tax Guide, Part 6. The 2027 rate, which applies to days after December 31, 2026, had not been published as of October 6, 2026. Colorado's 11% sits four points above the IRS's 7% underpayment rate for the second half of 2026, published on the IRS quarterly interest rate page, so a short state installment costs more per day than a short federal one. The federal estimated tax penalty guide covers the IRS side.

Suppose Leif skipped his $770 September 15 installment. The cost depends only on how fast he catches up:

The same $770 paid 107 days late to the IRS would cost $15.80 at 7%. Had he missed April, June, and September and paid all three on December 31, the penalty would total $131.34. When an installment is short, the Department applies later payments to the oldest underpayment first, so catch-up money is never wasted.

Two rules soften the fourth quarter. If you file your 2026 Colorado return and pay all tax due by January 31, 2027, DR 0204 computes no penalty on the January installment; January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so finish by Friday, January 29. And a payment made before January 1 enters DR 0204's 2027 interest column as zero days, which keeps the not-yet-published 2027 rate out of your bill.

You can compute the penalty on DR 0204 and enter it on the DR 0104's estimated tax penalty line (line 46 on the 2025 form), or let the Department bill you. The Department recommends e-filing because the per-quarter math on DR 0204 is error-prone.

SALT Parity Act Elections and Colorado Estimates

A partnership or S corporation can elect under the SALT Parity Act (section 39-22-340 and following, C.R.S.) to pay Colorado income tax at the entity level, which turns the owners' Colorado tax into a federal business deduction. The Department's SALT Parity Act guide sets three rules that change the individual estimate:

• The electing entity makes its own quarterly estimates on Form DR 0106EP when its Colorado tax will exceed $5,000, under the same rules as C corporations
• Each owner claims a credit on the DR 0104 for their share of the entity's tax, which lowers the owner's net tax for the $1,000 test and the safe harbor
• Every owner must add back the full federal QBI deduction, not just the part tied to the electing entity

An S corporation owner whose entity elected for 2026 can therefore owe far less on the personal DR 0104EP while the company pays at 4.4% on DR 0106EP. Our SALT deduction guide explains the federal side of these entity-level elections.

What DR 0104EP payments do NOT cover

• Federal tax. The IRS needs its own payment through Direct Pay or EFTPS
• Entity-level tax. SALT Parity Act tax goes on the entity's DR 0106EP account, never on an owner's voucher
• Sales tax. Sales tax returns run on their own monthly, quarterly, or annual schedule; see the Colorado sales tax due dates
• A 2025 balance due. That is a return payment for filing period 12/31/2025, not a 2026 estimate

Common Mistakes on Colorado Estimated Taxes

1. Paying 90% because that is the federal number

Colorado's current-year test is 70%. Paying 90% of a 2026 estimate is allowed, but it front-loads money the state did not require.

2. Dropping the 110% tier because the percentage is lower

The 70% figure did not replace the high-income rule. A consultant whose 2025 federal AGI was $180,000 who wants the prior-year anchor needs 110% of 2025 Colorado tax.

3. Budgeting for a 2026 TABOR refund or rate cut

No TABOR refund is coming for tax year 2026, and the rate stays at 4.4%. Withholding and estimates built on 4.25% or on a sales tax refund credit leave a gap.

4. Ignoring the $300,000 deduction limit

High earners who reused their 2025 worksheet miss the 2026 addback of the standard or itemized deduction above $1,000 or $2,000, which costs a joint filer who takes the $32,200 standard deduction $1,328.80 of tax.

5. Paying jointly under the second spouse's SSN

Colorado credits estimates to the first SSN on the DR 0104EP. If that order does not match the return, the payments do not show up where the return expects them.

Your Colorado Number by January 15: How Jupid Helps

The 4.4% rate is the easy part of a Colorado estimate. The hard part is knowing your real 2026 profit while the year is still running, since the 70% option is measured against it. Jupid links your business bank accounts and sorts every transaction with 95.9% categorization accuracy, so the profit figure behind DR 0104EP line 1 stays current through December. Ask the AI accountant in WhatsApp or iMessage how much your business has netted so far this year, and you get the answer in the chat instead of after a weekend of spreadsheet work. Try Jupid.

Action Checklist

• Estimate 2026 Colorado taxable income and multiply by 4.4%; add any 2026 addbacks from DR 0104AD
• Compare 70% of that tax with 100% (or 110%) of your net 2025 Colorado tax and take the smaller
• Short on April, June, or September? Pay the difference in Revenue Online before December 31 to stop the 11% clock
• Schedule the January 15, 2027 installment in Revenue Online as an "Estimated Payment" for filing period 12/31/2026, or mail the DR 0104EP to Denver, CO 80261-0008
• Pay federal Q4 on January 15, 2027 as well
• Owner of an electing S corporation or partnership? Confirm the entity's DR 0106EP payments and your expected SALT Parity credit

Sources

• 2026 DR 0104EP, Individual Estimated Income Tax Payment Form: due dates, $1,000 general rule, 70%/100%/110% required payments, 4.4% worksheet, mailing address
• DR 0204 (2025), Computation of Penalty Due Based on Underpayment of Colorado Individual Estimated Tax: exceptions, per-installment penalty math, January 31 rule, annualized percentages
• Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide: rate history, Part 3 addbacks, Part 6 estimated payments and 2022–2026 interest rates
• Colorado DOR: Individual Income Tax Estimated Payments and Pay Online by Credit/Debit Card or E-Check
• Colorado DOR: Income Tax Topics, SALT Parity Act and DR 0106EP
• Legislative Council Staff, Economic & Revenue Forecast, September 2026: no TABOR refund obligation for FY 2025-26 or refunds for tax year 2026
• 2026 State Ballot Information Booklet: Amendment 87 and Proposition 136 effective dates
• HB25-1274, Healthy School Meals for All Program: the 2026 deduction limit for incomes above $300,000
• Sections 39-22-104, 39-22-605, 39-22-627, and 39-22-340 and following, C.R.S.: rate, estimated tax, temporary rate reduction, and SALT Parity Act
• IRS Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax and IRC §6654: the federal estimates that run alongside Colorado's
• IRS quarterly interest rates: 7% underpayment rate for the third and fourth quarters of 2026

This guide is for general educational purposes and does not constitute tax, legal, or accounting advice. It reflects the 2026 DR 0104EP, the 2025 DR 0204, and Colorado Department of Revenue guidance as reviewed on October 6, 2026; Colorado sets its estimated tax penalty rate each calendar year, and the November 2026 ballot measures described above apply from 2027 if approved. For advice specific to your situation, consult a qualified tax professional or the Colorado Department of Revenue at tax.colorado.gov or 303-238-7378.