The Colorado surplus lines tax is 3% of the gross premium on any non-admitted insurance policy where Colorado is the insured’s home state. For policies effective on or after January 1, 2025, a 0.175% SLIP+ transaction fee applies on top of the tax. Filings are electronic only: monthly reports are due by the 15th of the following month, and the annual statement with payment is due by March 1.1DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Premium Taxes
What the 3% Applies To
The taxable base is the gross premium, meaning the base premium plus any policy fees.2DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Information for Agents / Agencies / Producers / Brokers A $10,000 premium with a $500 policy fee produces a taxable base of $10,500 and a tax of $315. The same 3% rate applies to property, casualty, and disability surplus lines coverage.3Colorado General Assembly. Surplus Lines Insurance Tax and Examination Fee Deduction
Colorado permits a deduction before you apply the 3%. Sums collected to cover federal taxes, other states’ taxes, and examination fees (sometimes called a stamp tax) come out of the gross premium first.3Colorado General Assembly. Surplus Lines Insurance Tax and Examination Fee Deduction Subtract those, then calculate the tax on the remainder.
The SLIP+ Transaction Fee
Colorado launched the Surplus Lines Information Portal, SLIP+, on January 1, 2025. Every new or renewal policy effective on or after that date carries a 0.175% transaction fee in addition to the 3% premium tax.2DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Information for Agents / Agencies / Producers / Brokers Endorsements to policies that took effect before January 1, 2025 do not carry the SLIP+ fee and are filed through the older Colorado Surplus Lines Tax System.
When Colorado Is the Taxing State
Colorado collects the tax when it is the insured’s home state under C.R.S. ยง 10-5-101.2. Home state means the state of the insured’s principal residence or principal place of business.4Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 10-5-101.2 – Definitions If none of the insured risk sits in that state, the home state becomes whichever state has the largest share of the taxable premium. For affiliated groups on one policy, the home state follows the member with the largest premium allocation.
Under the federal Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010, only the home state can tax a non-admitted policy.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 8201 – Reporting, Payment, and Allocation of Premium Taxes So if your headquarters or residence is in Colorado, Colorado gets the full 3% even when the covered property or operations sit elsewhere.
Who Files and Pays
The tax obligation is the insured’s by law, but the surplus lines broker handles collection, reporting, and remittance in almost every case. The broker takes the tax from the policyholder at premium payment and remits it on the state’s schedule.
When an insured buys directly from a non-admitted carrier with no broker involved, the placement is classified as independently procured insurance. The rate is the same 3% of gross premiums and fees, and the insured is personally responsible for the reporting and payment.1DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Premium Taxes Independently procured accounts cannot be linked to a broker agency account inside SLIP+, so self-procuring insureds set up their own filing credentials.6SLIP+. Colorado – SLIP+ Businesses that procure coverage directly often miss the monthly reporting and March 1 payment deadlines because no broker is watching them.
Filing Deadlines
- Monthly reports covering the prior month’s Colorado home-stated transactions are due by the 15th of each month.
- The annual statement and tax payment, covering the full preceding calendar year, are due by March 1.1DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Premium Taxes
Monthly reports track policy-level activity. The March 1 annual statement is the reconciliation that triggers the actual payment. Missing March 1 can result in penalties and interest, so brokers with heavy placement volume should file monthly rather than reconstruct a year of activity in February.
How to File
Colorado accepts electronic filings only.1DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Premium Taxes For any policy effective on or after January 1, 2025, filings go through SLIP+ at slipplus.com. The system handles both surplus lines and independently procured filings and supports bulk uploads for brokers reporting many policies at once.2DORA – Division of Insurance. Surplus Lines Information for Agents / Agencies / Producers / Brokers
Endorsements to policies that took effect before January 1, 2025 stay in the older Colorado Surplus Lines Tax System. The same monthly-by-the-15th and annual-by-March-1 deadlines still apply to those older-policy endorsements. Payment is electronic in both systems, so set up access before your first deadline.
What the Tax Does Not Cover
Paying the 3% tax does not by itself make a surplus lines placement compliant. Before a risk can go to a non-admitted carrier, Colorado law requires a diligent search of the admitted market, documented on the Division of Insurance’s Diligent Effort Affidavit. Commercial exempt policyholders are the one significant carve-out from that search requirement. Certain categories, including ocean and wet marine risks, property or operations located entirely outside Colorado, interstate railroad operations, commercial scheduled interstate aircraft, and satellites or launch devices, are exempt from the placement rules but still owe the 3% tax and still file through SLIP+.