About
Need to Know Tax publishes Income Tax 2026 · Need to Know · Federal & Colorado, a plain-English guide to the income tax topics that touch nearly every Colorado household.
The publication
It is written to be read at leisure, an article at a time. It is not a tax code and does not try to be one. Each article covers one subject in plain English, explains the terms the first time they appear, and stops. The figures are for tax year 2026, the return filed in early 2027, with 2027 figures where they have been published. It is dated on purpose and will be replaced next year.
It is independent. No firm is named inside the articles. The sponsor whose name is on your edition had no part in writing it, and the articles are the same for every reader. Where an article says “ask your preparer,” it means whoever prepares your return.
The printed magazine, Income Tax 2026, carries a selection of these articles, chosen for the widest audience and edited to fit its pages. This site carries the printed articles in full, plus others that appear online only, and it is kept current as the rules change; where print and site differ, the site is the later word.
How the articles are built
Each article leads with the plain answer, then a worked example in real dollars, the Colorado side of the topic, a “what to bring your preparer” list and links to the forms and official pages it mentions. Every one ends with a question box that goes to the editor.
Your own edition
Two kinds of people put their name on this publication. Member practices — a small number of tax practices in each state — have their name on every article of the Colorado edition as the firm that answers readers’ questions. Champions — the realtors, lenders and advisors who refer clients to a member — get an edition of their own: a front page with their name and a short welcome, leading to the same articles everyone else reads, with a one-line “Compliments of” above the masthead. The articles never change, and neither members nor champions have any part in writing them.
Tax practice: how the Member Program works. Realtor, lender or advisor: set up your edition, or ask the practice that refers you.
Corrections
Tax rules are detailed and the people who write about them make mistakes. If you find one, write to editor@needtoknowtax.com with the article name and the sentence in question. Corrections are logged on the updates page and fixed in place.
Publisher
The Tax Shop, Lone Tree, Colorado. Charles Trautman, EA, publisher and editor. The Tax Shop has prepared income tax returns in Colorado since 1969.
General information, not advice about your situation. Confirm anything that matters with a professional who knows your facts.