Selling land in Colorado means two tax bills — one to the IRS, one to the Colorado Department of Revenue — and the math changes depending on how long you've owned it, what you paid, and what improvements you made. Under C.R.S. § 39-22-104, Colorado charges a flat 4.4% income tax on net capital gain. Federal rates depend on your filing status and income. Get these numbers wrong and you'll be surprised at closing. Call 970-478-1022 — we buy Colorado land statewide, and we can close in as few as 14 days so you control your tax year.
Colorado taxes capital gains as ordinary income under C.R.S. § 39-22-104. There's no separate preferential rate at the state level — your net gain from selling land goes on Colorado Form DR 0104 and gets taxed at a flat 4.4% on top of your federal obligation. That's the straightforward part. Federal law is where strategy matters.
The IRS taxes capital gains at different rates depending on how long you held the property. Hold for 12 months or less and the gain is short-term — taxed as ordinary income at rates up to 37%. Hold for more than 12 months and you qualify for long-term rates.
For 2026, the federal long-term capital gains brackets are:
Most Colorado land sellers fall in the 15% federal bracket. Add Colorado's 4.4% and the combined rate is 19.4% on long-term gain — before the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) that applies if your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (MFJ).
Your taxable gain is the sale price minus your adjusted basis. Basis is not just the purchase price. It includes:
Sellers routinely undercount basis and overpay their tax. Pull your original closing statement, any improvement receipts, and your prior year tax returns. The IRS reports the gross sale proceeds on Form 1099-S; you report the gain or loss on IRS Form 8949 and carry it to Schedule D.
Under IRC § 1014, when you inherit land, your basis is the fair market value of the property on the date of the decedent's death — not what they originally paid. If your parent bought 40 acres in Costilla County for $15,000 in 1985 and it was worth $90,000 when they died, your basis is $90,000. Sell it for $95,000 and your taxable gain is only $5,000. This is one of the most valuable provisions in the tax code for Colorado land heirs.
Note: the step-up applies to inherited property. It does not apply to gifts — a gift carries the donor's carryover basis. If you received land as a gift, your basis is the lower of the donor's basis or the fair market value at the time of gift.
You bought 40 acres outside Durango in 2010 for $60,000. You paid $2,200 in closing costs at purchase, put in a $4,500 survey and a $3,800 road clearing, and paid $1,500 in closing costs at sale. You sell in 2026 for $130,000. You're MFJ with $150,000 AGI.
That's roughly 8.7% of your gross sale price. If you had short-term gain — same facts but you owned it only 11 months — federal tax at your ordinary rate (say 22%) would be $12,760 plus the same $2,552 Colorado. Holding past 12 months saved you over $4,000 in this example.
1031 Exchange (IRC § 1031): Defer the entire gain by rolling proceeds into a like-kind replacement property. You must identify the replacement within 45 days and close within 180 days. See our Colorado 1031 exchange guide for the full mechanics.
Installment Sale (IRC § 453): Spread your gain over multiple tax years by carrying a note. You pay tax on each installment received in that tax year — useful if you want to stay in a lower bracket each year. The buyer pays you principal plus interest, and you report the gain ratably as you receive it.
Capital Loss Harvesting: If you have other investments sitting at a loss, realize those losses in the same tax year. Capital losses offset capital gains dollar-for-dollar on Schedule D. Losses in excess of gains can offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year, with unlimited carryforward.
Sell in a Low-Income Year: If you're near the 0% federal bracket threshold ($98,899 MFJ for 2026), selling land in a year when your other income is low may result in zero federal capital gains tax. Colorado's 4.4% still applies, but eliminating the 15% federal hit is significant.
Selling Colorado land generates paperwork on both the federal and state side. Here's what to expect and what you need to file.
The title company is required by IRC § 6045 to issue a Form 1099-S reporting the gross proceeds of the sale to both you and the IRS. The 1099-S shows the gross amount — not your gain. You'll receive it by January 31 of the year following the sale. Don't confuse the gross proceeds with your taxable gain; the 1099-S has no idea what you paid for the land.
IRS Form 8949 is where you report each individual property sale. List the property description, date acquired, date sold, gross proceeds (from the 1099-S), your adjusted basis, and any adjustments. The form differentiates short-term (held ≤12 months, Part I) from long-term (held >12 months, Part II). Net totals from Form 8949 flow to Schedule D.
Schedule D aggregates all your capital transactions for the year. It applies the appropriate tax rates to your net long-term and short-term gains and calculates your total tax. This number flows to your Form 1040.
Colorado's individual income tax return (DR 0104) picks up your federal adjusted gross income — which includes your capital gain — and applies the 4.4% flat rate under C.R.S. § 39-22-104. There's no separate Colorado Schedule D; the gain is already included in your federal AGI that flows to the DR 0104. Colorado does not have its own capital gains exemption or preferential rate for land sales.
If you expect to owe more than $1,000 in Colorado income tax after credits, you're required to make estimated quarterly payments to avoid underpayment penalties. A large land sale mid-year can easily create this situation. Pay estimated tax by the quarterly deadline closest to your closing date to avoid the penalty.
We structure our purchase agreements to be as clean and buyer-favorable as possible, and we can time closings to fall in a specific tax year. If you're within 60 days of year-end, call 970-478-1022 and we'll discuss whether a January close makes more sense for your situation. See also our raw land sale guide for the full closing process.
La Plata and Archuleta counties have seen the sharpest appreciation in the state since 2010 — Durango-area land that sold for $1,500/acre is now $4,000–$6,000/acre in some corridors. That means sellers there are sitting on very large long-term gains. The 1031 exchange and installment sale strategies matter most in these markets.
On the Eastern Plains — Weld, Morgan, Logan counties — irrigated cropland has doubled in price since 2012 due to Front Range water demand. Absentee owners who inherited this ground often have a stepped-up basis under IRC § 1014 that dramatically reduces their taxable gain. We've bought parcels where the heir's tax bill was nearly zero after the step-up.
San Luis Valley — Costilla, Conejos, Saguache — remains lower-value but has seen steady appreciation. Many long-hold parcels here were bought for $200–$500/acre and now sell for $800–$2,000/acre. Long-term gain at 15% federal plus 4.4% Colorado is manageable. The math on installment sales is often favorable here because buyers in this market also sometimes prefer carrying a note.
See also: Colorado 1031 exchange guide, inherited land and stepped-up basis, and how to value your Colorado land.
Get answers to common questions about selling your land
Colorado taxes capital gains as ordinary income at a flat 4.4% rate under C.R.S. § 39-22-104, reported on Form DR 0104. You owe this on top of your federal capital gains tax. There's no Colorado-specific exemption for land sales, no preferential rate, and no exclusion for rural or agricultural parcels. Federal long-term rates are 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your total income.
A capital loss on land offsets capital gains dollar-for-dollar on IRS Schedule D. If your losses exceed gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 of the excess against ordinary income per year, with unlimited carryforward into future years. Colorado follows federal treatment — your Colorado DR 0104 picks up the adjusted figure from your federal return, so the loss reduces your Colorado tax too.
Under IRC § 1014, your basis in inherited land equals the fair market value on the decedent's date of death — not their original purchase price. This can eliminate most or all capital gains on inherited property. For community property held by married couples, both halves get a step-up at the first spouse's death. Get an appraisal at the date of death to document the basis.
Partially. Colorado taxes all income of residents and income sourced in Colorado for non-residents. If you establish domicile in a no-income-tax state before selling, you may avoid Colorado's 4.4%. But the land is Colorado-sourced income — Colorado can assert tax on non-residents for Colorado real property sales. Confirm with a Colorado CPA before relying on this strategy.
No. The IRC § 121 exclusion ($250,000 single / $500,000 MFJ) applies only to the sale of a principal residence, not raw land. Even if your home sits on a large parcel and you sell off a portion of the lot, only the residence portion may qualify. The land portion is a separate capital asset — the exclusion doesn't transfer to it.
Under IRC § 453, if you carry a note instead of receiving full cash at closing, you report only the gain proportional to each payment received in that tax year. Spreading a $60,000 gain over three years at $20,000/year can keep you in a lower federal bracket each year, saving thousands. Colorado's 4.4% applies each year as well. The buyer pays interest on the outstanding principal, which is ordinary income to you.
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