Diapers will be exempt from city and county sales tax in Denver under a new ordinance approved by City Council.
Councilmembers unanimously passed the new tax rules during Monday night's meeting. The exemption includes all child diapers, as well as adult incontinence products, and will go into effect in October.
The City and County of Denver's sales tax is currently set at 4.8 percent.
Denver's exemption builds off of HB22-1055, which removed Colorado's state sales tax for diapers and menstrual products. That policy goes into effect at the beginning of 2023, but it does not affect local tax rules.
Amanda Sawyer, District 5's councilmember, said the ordinance will help families who are struggling with economic constraints.
"It's much needed given the unprecedented inflationary pressures that we're seeing right now. We hope this helps them keep some of that hard-earned money in their pocket and they can put it towards things that have gotten more expensive in 2022," Sawyer said at the council meeting.
Denver stands to lose between $500,000 and $800,000 in tax revenue annually due to the change, according to the city's budgetary management office's fiscal analysis.
Menstrual products were exempted from the city's sales tax in 2019. Aurora's city council made both menstrual products and diapers exempt from local sales tax in April, becoming the first Colorado city to do so.
