California’s Cannabis Tax Cut
Cris Alarcon, News@InEDC.com
(PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA) Aug 8, 2022 — Too little, too late. That seems to be the consensus about California’s big cannabis tax cut, which went into effect July 1. It eliminated the cultivation tax, but the 15% tax on retail is still fully intact and could go up in the future to offset any loss in revenue.
“From early on, the administration — and I’ll never fully understand why — decided that we needed to provide comprehensive relief to cultivators, but far less relief to retailers,” Sen. Anthony Wiener (D-San Francisco) told Politico.
The tax cut offers some “meager crumbs with the hopes that they will remain quiet,” added Steven Bradford (D-Gardena).
There is hope that more relief will eventually come. Amy O’Gorman Jenkins of Precision Advocacy said she hopes a boost in sales and tax revenue would provide momentum.
In addition to eliminating the cultivation tax, the bill allocates $20 million to help cities and counties establish retail cannabis markets.