Unknown price and demand, lack of historical data leave planners with limited information

So how good have states been at predicting the money they will bring in with the new taxes? It’s been totally all over the place, Pew found. In the first six months of the new marijuana tax, Nevada collected 40 percent more revenue than its budget officials predicted. But in California, the state took in only 45 percent of what it expected. An advisory committee found that the high taxes on the legal product didn’t make consumers want to leave the black market, which could be a reason why revenue predictions were so far off. 

Forbes write, “Wikileaf released a paper titled, “Data for Alcohol vs. Cannabis: Which Taxes Help Society More?” The data was gleaned using reports and statistics in five legal recreational cannabis states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, each of which supports a robust beverage alcohol trade. “

Sounds as though he might have enjoyed his grills but not the grilling that followed. “Pupo testified in June during the marathon hearing in District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez’s courtroom that last year’s controversial cannabis license selection process wasn’t tilted despite the lunches and dinners he had with dispensary owners and representatives just weeks before announcing a new round of applications. In the end, 462 applications were processed with 61 conditional retail licenses granted, some to companies run by Pupo’s dining companions.”

Oregon has now collected more than $275 million in state taxes from recreational cannabis sales.

Players in growing industry urge action on legislation that would protect banks and credit unions that work with the marijuana industry. Reports Marketwatch.

A Colorado marijuana dispensary has asked the U.S. Tax Court to be allowed more than $600,000 in expense deductions, arguing that because Congress did not specifically make marijuana sales illegal, the…

A successful appeal wouldn’t do away with that hated paragraph in the tax code, but could shield cannabis businesses with other activities that aren’t illegal under the Controlled Substances Act from Section 280E and make it a bit easier for cannabis accountants to comply.

In the quarter that covered February through April, Northampton received $530,589 in tax payments from NETA, bringing its total since the dispensary opened to the recreational market last November to nearly $1 million. NETA only opened in Brookline March 23, and the company paid $214,020 in municipal taxes to Brookline for sales through the end of April.