Colorado Update: Contractor Reporting is Now Required
by ZANE GLOVER
Effective July 2021, Colorado House Bill 21-1220 requires employers to report Independent Contractors, also known as self-employed or contract employees, as new hires, if they provided their Social Security Number for tax purposes. If they provided a Federal Tax ID (FEIN), you do not need to report these employees as new hires.
All employers are required to report all employees, including any self-employed or contract employees, to the Colorado State Directory of New Hires within 20 days of the first day of work.
If you have outstanding new hire reports needing to be filed for self-employed or contract employees dating from the inception of House Bill 21-1220 in July 2021, those employees should still be reported, but no penalty will be imposed for late reporting of these individuals.
Report independent contractors online as you would any employee, providing:
•Full name
•Social Security number
•Address
•Contract start date or Date of Hire
•Use a Y/N indicator to indicate they are an Independent Contractor
Users sending in new hire reports via online file upload or SFTP need to update their file layouts to include the self-employed or contract employee indicator field.
ATTENTION TO OUR CLIENTS: There is nothing you need to do as we perform new hire reporting to each state as part of our service.