With regard to the recent Marijuana Moment report referenced by CLR last week the Maryland Office of the Comptroller has decided they’d like to add further clarity and write
“Wells Fargo Bank provides lockbox and other treasury management services to the State of Maryland, including such services related to the collection of state tax revenue. All due care has been taken by State officials and Wells Fargo to ensure that the collection of the Maryland sales and use tax, and the State’s handling of that tax revenue, complies with applicable laws and regulations. Any inference or assertion that these processes have been designed to evade any applicable laws or regulations is incorrect.”
Here is their statement in full
The Office of the Comptroller of Maryland is aware of recent media reports characterizing statements made by an employee during a presentation at the Maryland Association of Counties conference. That employee was describing the agency’s efforts to implement the legalization of adult-use cannabis sales in Maryland and our office is reaching out to you in an effort to clarify the remarks made. We would appreciate the following comments from our office be attributed to a spokesperson from the Office of the Maryland Comptroller.
“Under Maryland law, the Comptroller’s Office is responsible for collecting the sales and use tax on all taxable goods and services in the State, including adult-use cannabis, which was passed by voter referendum in November 2022 and the Maryland legislature in 2023, and established a 9% sales and use tax on adult-use cannabis sales.
“Wells Fargo Bank provides lockbox and other treasury management services to the State of Maryland, including such services related to the collection of state tax revenue. All due care has been taken by State officials and Wells Fargo to ensure that the collection of the Maryland sales and use tax, and the State’s handling of that tax revenue, complies with applicable laws and regulations. Any inference or assertion that these processes have been designed to evade any applicable laws or regulations is incorrect.”
