Colorado vehicle tax
The Colorado military car tax exemption
Colorado charges specific ownership tax on a vehicle every year. If you are stationed here on orders and your home of record is another state, 50 U.S.C. § 4001 says that car is not Colorado's to tax. Here is the form that stops the bill, what it asks for, and the mistake that voids it.
The form
DR 2667 Nonresidence and Military Service Exemption from Specific Ownership Tax Affidavit
- Published by
- Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles
- Where it is granted
- A state agency grants it
- The tax it stops
- specific ownership tax
- How often you claim it
- Claimed once, at titling or registration
- State authority
- C.R.S. 42-3-104(9)
- Verified
- 2026-08-28, on the issuing agency's own site
The deadline
Registration must be completed within 60 days of the date the affidavit is executed. Sign it too early and the affidavit goes stale before you reach the counter.
What Colorado wants from you
- Completed DR 2667 naming the Colorado installation you are assigned to under orders
- Military ID presented in person (servicemember)
- Copy of orders issued in the servicemember’s name
- Current Leave and Earnings Statement
- Power of attorney, if a spouse or agent is signing
How the Colorado claim actually works
Colorado does not call this a property tax. The charge is the specific ownership tax, a value-based annual levy collected with your registration, and it is the single largest line on a Colorado registration for a newer vehicle. The exemption is claimed on DR 2667 at the time you register, not on a separate tax filing.
The affidavit is unusual in naming exactly who may sign it. Only the servicemember, the servicemember’s spouse, or a lawful agent holding power of attorney may execute it. A unit clerk or a dealership cannot sign it for you.
The four sworn conditions are compact and each is a genuine trap: you are not a legal resident of Colorado, you are a member of the Armed Forces serving under orders in Colorado or the spouse of one, you are a named owner on the vehicle, and the vehicle will not be used in any trade or business in Colorado. The form warns that business use forfeits the exemption and triggers full payment of all taxes due, so a car you also drive for rideshare is not exempt.
The 60-day rule is the one people lose on. The affidavit is executed on a date, and the registration must be completed within 60 days of that date. If your appointment slips past the window you sign a fresh affidavit rather than argue the old one.
What trips people up here
- Colorado’s own form still cites the SCRA at "Title 50 App. U.S.C.", the codification retired in the 2015 editorial reclassification. The live citation is 50 U.S.C. § 4001. The form is valid; the cite on it is simply stale.
- Business use is called out explicitly and voids the exemption. Rideshare and delivery driving are the common failure.
- You must name the Colorado military installation you are assigned to under orders, so a member on orders to a non-installation assignment should be ready to explain the entry.
Spouses are covered in Colorado
A spouse may execute the affidavit in their own right. A spouse or agent filing must attach the orders, the LES and a power of attorney.
A note on the citation you will see
Colorado's own material cites the SCRA as "sections 1, 2, and 3, Title 50 App. U.S.C.". That codification was retired in the 2015 editorial reclassification, which moved the Act to 50 U.S.C. § 3901 and following, with the residence and taxation rule at § 4001. The document is still valid. The citation printed on it simply points at a place the Code no longer uses, so do not conclude the rule was repealed when you cannot find it.
Sources
Keep going
Other states
Each state names this tax differently and grants the exemption through a different office.
Heads up: SCRA Saver publishes general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws change and every situation differs. Confirm details with your installation legal assistance office (free for service members) or a licensed professional.