Taxes

Cannabis activists and lobbyists in Washington state are predicting a busy legislative session this year. Already, bills are planned to address the state’s lack of cannabis homegrows, undo the excise tax on medical cannabis, and more.

Combined adult-use and medical cannabis sales in Illinois surpassed $1 billion during 2020. The state’s adult-use market launched last January.

Oregon’s Deschutes County has announced a lawsuit saying it should be paid a portion of the state’s cannabis tax revenue despite having banned any new cannabis processing and cultivation facilities in the county in 2019.

In an effort to assist local cannabis businesses, San Francisco officials have opted to delay implementing the city’s cannabis taxes until the end of 2021.

Law enforcement confiscated over 15,000 cannabis plants last week around the San Francisco Bay Area, highlighting ongoing issues with California’s highly taxed cannabis marketplace.

Massachusetts has officially surpassed $1 billion in adult-use cannabis sales, resulting in about $200 million in taxes for the state.

The IRS has been cleared to audit cannabis companies under a recent ruling in the U.S. 10th Circuit of Appeals.

King County, Washington is considering shifting its cannabis-derived funds from the Sheriff’s Office to instead pay for community programs and to help individuals vacate cannabis-related convictions.

A new IRS guidance says state-legal cannabis firms should be able to take business tax deductions under Section 471, a tax code approved in 2018 that allows businesses grossing $25 million or less in revenue to deduct a greater portion of their expenses.

Cannabis taxes have helped to fund $5.7 million in state grants to help pay for school improvements such as roof repair and other renovations in Colorado’s Thompson School District.

The majority of Massachusetts’ cannabis-derived tax revenue, $53.8 million out of $78.8 million, was allocated to the state’s Division of Alcoholism Administration.

Illinois is dedicating $31 million in cannabis taxes to a new grant program aimed at small businesses and non-profits in disadvantaged communities.

California officials have started issuing tax warrants against unlicensed cannabis retailers throughout Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Pueblo County, Colorado is set to provide $2.3 million in scholarship funding to local students using cannabis-derived taxes.

Portland, Oregon officials are redirecting $12 million from the police department toward helping communities of color; at least $2 million of the funds are derived from local cannabis taxes and fees.

Oregon’s monthly cannabis sales surpassed $100 million for the first time since the state legalized adult-use cannabis in 2015.

California officials have lowered their estimated cannabis tax revenues in light of the coronavirus and its effects on the economy, particularly the unemployment rate.

Harborside in California is continuing its challenge of the federal tax code 280E, which the company’s legal team says is unconstitutional and runs afoul of the 16th Amendment.

California cannabis taxes generated nearly $135 million during the first quarter of 2020, which is $42.4 million less than the state’s 2019 first-quarter cannabis tax revenue.

Oklahoma medical cannabis sales set a new record during April despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has been petitioned to determine whether or not medical cannabis products in the state should be tax-exempt.

Cannabis tax revenue in California has reached $1 billion since the adult-use market launched about two years ago.