California: Medical Cannabis Sales Tax Loophole Discovered

17 November 2016

Here are the details . Time to employ an editor ?

“California’s marijuana legalization initiative is designed to raise significant tax revenue for the state.

When legal recreational marijuana sales commence on Jan. 1, 2018, the initiative applies a 15 percent excise tax on recreational and medical marijuana, as well as some taxes on marijuana producers based on the weight of each plant grown.

The state’s 7.5 percent sales tax is tacked on top of that for recreational marijuana, but the ballot proposition repeals that tax for medical marijuana.

The idea was to give medical marijuana users a tax break relative to recreational users once the initiative’s new taxes begin in 2018.

But because the Jan. 1, 2018, target date was omitted in the relevant subsection of the 62-page initiative, the medical marijuana sales tax elimination instead became effective this week when the measure passed.

As a result, tax-free medical marijuana sales will occur in California from now through the end of 2017.

With recreational sales not set to begin until 2018, tax-free medical sales leave California facing a disappointing near-term marijuana tax revenue picture. The creators of the initiative have stated publicly that providing a 14-month tax holiday for marijuana was not their intention, but the state’s Board of Equalization ruled otherwise.”

Full report http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/11/16/california-medical-marijuana-tax-proposition-64-omission/67735/

Primary Sponsor

 


Karma Koala Podcast

Top Marijuana Blog