“….not every industry is going to be able to take advantage of the new [tax cut] law. Marijuana companies that had been hoping for a reprieve from U.S. tax code 280E will continue to get the short end of the stick.
The code, which has been on the books for over three decades, states:
No deduction or credit shall be allowed for any amount paid or incurred during the taxable year … if such trade or business (or the activities which comprise such trade or business) consists of trafficking in controlled substances (…[in] schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act) which is prohibited by Federal law….
In plainer English, because marijuana is still a Schedule I, and thus wholly illegal, drug at the federal level, pot businesses remain unable to take normal corporate income-tax deductions. That leaves businesses that are profitable to pay an effective tax rate of as much as 90% on their profits.
This tax rate is especially crippling considering that Marijuana Business Daily’s latest annual report forecasts legal U.S. sales growth of 45% in 2018.
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) tried to make headway during the Senate’s phase of tax discussions in early December. He submitted an amendment for discussion that would have … allowed taxation like a normal business. However, Gardner’s amendment gained no traction and wasn’t even voted on.”
The story also covers the still uncertain status of the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment which has been temporarily extended several times in the last two months.
Meanwhile, we’re happy to keep having opportunities to say it again: TRUCE stands for safe, legal and affordable access for all patients who stand to benefit, and regard all three legs of that triad to be critically important in bringing cannabis medicine to more and more patients.
#MMJ #Economics #USpol #UTpol #UtahNext #TRUCE
See full article – Surprise! This Industry Could Still Face a 90% Tax Rate, Even With the GOP’s Tax Cuts
