The state has made accessibility not only a priority, but also a legislative requirement. Its accessibility efforts range from virtual reality training for health and human services professionals to a digital tool to help constituents who are blind or have low vision.
Another program that brings state government services on the road for underserved populations in the state is DMV2GO. First launched in August 2022, it delivers full-service Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) stations to hard-to-reach populations such as jails, nursing homes and community centers. The program does not rely on external Wi-Fi, so its vehicles can be used to securely provide DMV services anywhere in the state.
The TAX2GO program builds on the existing DMV2GO initiative, leveraging its same technology and encrypted network already in use to bring all the traditional services of a Taxpayer Service Center — which are located in Colorado’s urban areas: Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Denver Metro, Fort Collins and Grand Junction — to convenient public locations like libraries and community centers.
“So, it would be the same experience you would get if you visited one of our walk-in service centers, just out in the community with fewer walls,” said Department of Revenue (DOR) Taxation Service Center Manager Tiffany Bottcher. This, she added, means customers can expect the same personalized, one-on-one service to meet unique taxation situation needs: “We’re just taking it closer to where everybody’s at.”
Services TAX2GO offers include applying for a new sales tax or wage withholding license, getting information on available tax credits and tracking refunds.
Officials held the first TAX2GO event Jan. 6 in Walsenburg, Colo. Subsequent events for 2025 are scheduled through March; more information can be found on the program website.
(DEREK KUHN/CDOR PHOTO)
Customers can create appointments or be served on a walk-in basis. Both debit and credit cards and cryptocurrency payments are accepted.
According to DOR Communications Supervisor Derek Kuhn, the DMV had already identified service deserts — remote places in Colorado where residents may have a hard time going to a physical center for government services. The TAX2GO program is set up to go anywhere that DMV2GO is located. This allows data encryption to keep customers’ information safe.
“All of the work that we do happens within our system of record, which you have to have an encrypted connection in order to access,” Bottcher said. Because the DMV has already provided that secure connection, and the TAX2GO program is “piggybacking” off the previously created program’s foundation — there were no additional infrastructural costs for DOR. The tax services themselves will be provided by DOR service center staff volunteers, Bottcher noted.
The program aims to simplify access to Colorado’s tax services, and its initial focus is to increase the number of people applying for the Property Tax/Rent/Heat Credit rebate, Bottcher said. To measure the program’s impact, the state will be looking at the number of individuals assisted at these service locations.
This program, Kuhn underlined, is a fiscally responsible one. Staff members are volunteering to go to these locations, and an encrypted Wi-Fi network did not need to be purchased — yet the new availability will allow the state to better provide more service to more people in rural areas.
“We are striving here at the Department of Revenue to serve Coloradans where they are to make government more efficient and more cost effective, and this TAX2GO program just really kind of outlines that,” Kuhn said, noting the initiative does fall under Gov. Jared Polis’ new operational agenda, which makes customer service a priority.
Separate from this initiative, the state is also rolling out a new Sales and Use Tax System (SUTS). Although that separate initiative is tied to legislation from several years back, both TAX2GO and the SUTS project serve a similar end goal of making government more efficient for taxpayers. While TAX2GO focuses on individuals, SUTS focuses on businesses. Its soft launch was this month, Kuhn said, and the full launch is expected in the coming weeks.
