YES ON 87
THE PLAN TO BUILD A FAIR COLORADO
Amendment 87 — the Income Tax Fairness Act — cuts taxes for 97% of Coloradans while asking the wealthiest households and largest corporations to pay their fair share.
Read Amendment 87
Ballot Title Setting Board
2025-2026
The title as designated and fixed by the Board is as follows:
State taxes shall be increased $2.7 billion annually, in order to increase or improve levels of public services, including K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education services, by an amendment to the Colorado Constitution and a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes repealing existing law and creating new law to replace the uniform state income tax rate with a graduated income tax structure, and, in connection therewith, amending the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to eliminate the constitutional requirement for all taxable net income to be taxed at one rate with no added tax on income; establishing various income tax rates based on the amount of taxable income earned by individuals, estates, trusts, and corporations, while maintaining the current 4.4% tax on income from the sale of a principal residence, which will result in the estimated change in income taxes owed by individuals as identified in the following table; and authorizing the state to retain and spend any increased revenue from the new tax structure, as a voter-approved revenue change, to supplement current levels of funding for K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education programs:
Initiative 195
Change in Income Taxes Owed by Income Category
| Income Categories | Current Average Income Tax Owed |
Proposed Average Income Tax Owed |
Proposed Change in Average Income Tax Owed if Passed + or – |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 or less | $59 | $50 | -$9 |
| $25,001 – $50,000 | $751 | $632 | -$119 |
| $50,001 – $100,000 | $1,877 | $1,666 | -$210 |
| $100,001 – $200,000 | $4,126 | $3,828 | -$298 |
| $200,001 – $500,000 | $9,344 | $9,019 | -$325 |
| $500,001 – $1,000,000 | $19,288 | $18,963 | -$325 |
| $1,000,001 – $2,000,000 | $29,432 | $34,196 | +$4,764 |
| $2,000,001 – $5,000,000 | $41,196 | $55,110 | +$13,914 |
| Income categories use adjusted gross income reported to the federal Internal Revenue Service. | |||
The ballot title and submission clause as designated and fixed by the Board is as follows:
Shall state taxes be increased $2.7 billion annually, in order to increase or improve levels of public services, including K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education services, by an amendment to the Colorado Constitution and a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes repealing existing law and creating new law to replace the uniform state income tax rate with a graduated income tax structure, and, in connection therewith, amending the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to eliminate the constitutional requirement for all taxable net income to be taxed at one rate with no added tax on income; establishing various income tax rates based on the amount of taxable income earned by individuals, estates, trusts, and corporations, while maintaining the current 4.4% tax on income from the sale of a principal residence, which will result in the estimated change in income taxes owed by individuals as identified in the following table; and authorizing the state to retain and spend any increased revenue from the new tax structure, as a voter-approved revenue change, to supplement current levels of funding for K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education programs?
Initiative 195
Change in Income Taxes Owed by Income Category
| Income Categories | Current Average Income Tax Owed |
Proposed Average Income Tax Owed |
Proposed Change in Average Income Tax Owed if Passed + or – |
|---|---|---|---|
| $25,000 or less | $59 | $50 | -$9 |
| $25,001 – $50,000 | $751 | $632 | -$119 |
| $50,001 – $100,000 | $1,877 | $1,666 | -$210 |
| $100,001 – $200,000 | $4,126 | $3,828 | -$298 |
| $200,001 – $500,000 | $9,344 | $9,019 | -$325 |
| $500,001 – $1,000,000 | $19,288 | $18,963 | -$325 |
| $1,000,001 – $2,000,000 | $29,432 | $34,196 | +$4,764 |
| $2,000,001 – $5,000,000 | $41,196 | $55,110 | +$13,914 |
| Income categories use adjusted gross income reported to the federal Internal Revenue Service. | |||
Hearing January 21, 2026
Single subject approved; staff draft amended; titles set (3-0).
The Board finds that the proposed initiative only repeals, in whole or in part, a provision of the state constitution and therefore does not require a 55% majority for passage.
Board members: Theresa Conley, Christy Chase, Kurt Morrison
Hearing adjourned 12:24 PM.
Rehearing February 4, 2026
Motions for rehearing (Fields, Menten, Sopkin, Hancock) denied in their entirety (2-1, Morrison).
Motion for rehearing (proponents) granted to the extent reflected in the change to the title (3-0).
The Board finds that the proposed initiative only repeals, in whole or in part, a provision of the state constitution and therefore does not require a 55% majority for passage.
Board members: Theresa Conley, Christy Chase, Kurt Morrison
Hearing adjourned 12:08 PM.
* Unofficially captioned “Graduated Income Tax” by legislative staff for tracking purposes. This caption is not part of the titles set by the Board.
THE FACTS
97%
Coloradans get a tax cut
Colorado taxpayers, including seniors, veterans, small businesses and local restaurants will see lower taxes through this proposal.
3%
Only households earning over per year $500,000 pay more
No one making under $500,000 pays a penny more, and we’ll continue to receive our refund checks
$2.7B
locked in for Colorado’s future
Restricted funding going toward K-12 schools, health care, and child care, with an annual independent audit.
Colorado’s tax code is broken. Right now, a teacher or nurse making $50,000 a year pays the same tax rate as millionaires and giant corporations. That’s not fair, and it’s why our schools stay underfunded, childcare keeps getting more expensive, health care costs keep climbing, and working families keep getting squeezed.
Amendment 87 — the Income Tax Fairness Act fixes this by asking the wealthiest Coloradans and largest corporations to finally pay their fair share, while cutting taxes for 97% of us.
Tax Calculator
How Would Income Tax Fairness Work for you??
Enter your annual Colorado taxable income to compare what you pay today with what you'd pay under Amendment 87 — the Income Tax Fairness Act
Your effective tax rate will be : 4.4%
Current flat tax
$0
4.4%
With GIT
$0
Estimate
$0
97% of Coloradans are expected to pay less.
*How is this calculated?
* For individual taxpayers, Colorado taxable income is calculated by subtracting your deductions from your federal adjusted gross income. For 2027, the standard deduction is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married joint filers. Pursuant to the passage of Proposition MM, taxpayers earning more than $300,000 are subject to a maximum deduction of $1000 for single filers and $2000 for joint filers.
For owners of businesses that file as passthroughs (S-Corps, LLCs, etc), the Colorado taxable income calculation should include total annual take-home pay (salary plus share of profit) minus allowable deductions.
For C-corps, the change in annual corporate tax can be calculated by plugging annual Corporate net income into the “Annual income” field above.