Nevada’s legal cannabis sales continue to outpace projections as January tax revenues reached $5.54 million, according to Department of Taxation figures outlined by Las Vegas Weekly. The revenues represent a stable market that has topped $5 million in tax revenues in four straight months.
It’s the fourth-highest total since the state launched its recreational cannabis program: October’s $5.8 million in tax revenues still holds as the state record, followed by $5.7 million in December, and $5.5 million in November.
Wholesale taxes – 15 percent on both recreational and medical products paid by cultivation and production facilities – represented $2.26 million of the revenues, while the 10 percent excise tax on sales was about $3.28 million.
The state projected tax revenues of $5 million a month from July 2017 to July 2019, totaling $120 million. Taxation Department Director Bill Anderson told Las Vegas Weekly that the “collections to date are around 70 percent of what was projected for the year.”
“Taxable sales of adult-use marijuana accounted for about $200 million of the total statewide taxable sales for the period of July through December 2017 and about 15 percent of the growth in taxable sales for that period compared to the year prior.” – Anderson in a Mar. 1 press release
Wholesale tax funds are used by state and local agencies to regulate the industry and for school funding. Excise tax revenues are deposited in the rainy day fund.