Colorado To Offer One-Day Tax Holiday On Marijuana

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COLORADO:  Colorado will repeal sales taxes on marijuana Sept. 16, thanks to a quirk in its constitution.

The one-time-only holiday from the 10 percent state sales tax on recreational pot is likely to generate buzz in the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana.

The little-noticed provision is part of a larger bill that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law Thursday that includes a ballot initiative in November and a permanent tax cut on recreational pot sales in 2017.

“This fiscal glitch that we have with the constitution … that’s part of the magic of living in Colorado,” the Democratic governor said.

More Colorado Marijuana Tax Dollars Are Rolling In

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COLORADO:  Those pot tax dollars are rolling in, and they don’t show signs of letting up anytime soon.

The Colorado Department of Revenue in June collected slightly more in tax revenue than the month before, according to its recent sales report.

The state collected $4,775,679 from marijuana-related sales tax in June 2014, up from $4,511,668 collected in May 2014.

To date, Colorado has collected $25,307,067 in pot taxes. Officials projected the state would collect $60 to $70 million by the end of the fiscal year (June 2015).

 

Colorado’s Marijuana Sales Are Skyrocketing

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COLORADO:  It hasn’t been long since Colorado officially legalized marijuana, and within a short time period, marijuana sales are already flourishing. According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, in March alone, retail taxes on recreational marijuana reeled in $1.898 million to the Colorado government. After adding in medical marijuana sales tax and licenses, the first three months of marijuana sales have yielded a net of $12.6 million in taxes. This should not come as a surprise as it was reported that owners of marijuana stores collectively made $1 million in sales the first day recreational marijuana was legally made available to consumers. With such promising numbers and a continuing upward trend in sales, the legalization of recreational marijuana has had a positive effect on Colorado’s economy.

How Will the Colorado Government Spend the Tax Money?

Initially, the Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper’s proposal included 6 major priority areas to allocate the tax money generated from marijuana sales. He proposed spending $45.5 million in youth use prevention, $40.4 million in substance abuse treatment and $12.4 million for public health. He also hoped to launch a three-year statewide campaign highlighting the health risks associated with marijuana. The plan also included $1.9 million to the Department of Transportation to launch a “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign.

Lastly, Hickenlooper hoped to allocate $7 million for 105 additional beds in treatment centers for substance abuse. Colorado’s legislative budget committee recently approved a much more modest version of the Governor’s initial proposal. They approved spending $31.4 million for the prevention of youth drug use, addiction treatment, as well as for research and public education campaigns. The committee members made additional tweaks to the plan by shifting the focus from youth marijuana prevention to adult drug treatment. The committee also changed how the money would be spent. The governor’s proposal called for spending the marijuana tax money as it came in; however the committee changed the plan to not spend the money until the year after it is collected. Although this new finalized plan gained unanimous support from the committee, it is likely that there will be more changes before it arrives at the Governor’s desk for approval.

Skyrocketing Tax Revenues from Pot in Colorado–Will Texas Take Note?

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TEXAS: Will the booming taxes being collected in Colorado from marijuana be enough to turn the heads of Texas lawmakers in favor of legalization, or at least lessening the penalties on pot and allowing for taxation?

 

Retail marijuana sales in Colorado brought in $1.4 million in January, and that number jumped to nearly $1.9 million in March, as the popularity of legal marijuana makes using the drug more legitimate for more people.

 

Colorado analysts say the message is simple–the January taxes weren’t just from faddists who ran out to buy pot as a ‘new toy.’  Legal marijuana use is taking effect across the Centennial State, and Cheyanne Weldon of the Texas Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says Texas politicians can’t help but take notice.

 

“The way we can control it is through a regulated market,” Weldon said of failed efforts to reduce the use of marijuana by law enforcement.  “We can capitalize not only on marijuana taxes themselves, but on the new industries, and the jobs.”

Colorado Expects To Reap Tax Bonanza From Legal Marijuana Sales

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COLORADO:  For Colorado’s new flock of recreational marijuana growers and sellers, Thursday was Tax Day — their first deadline to hand over the taxes they had collected during their inaugural month of sales. And as store owners stuffed cash into lockboxes and made the nervous trek to government offices, new budget numbers predicted that those marijuana taxes could add more than $100 million a year to state coffers, far more than earlier estimates.

The figures offered one of the first glimpses into how the bustling market for recreational marijuana was beginning to reshape government bottom lines — an important question as marijuana advocates push to expand legalization beyond Colorado and Washington State into states including Arizona, Alaska and Oregon. [Read more…]

How High Is Too High For Colorado Pot Tax?

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COLORADO: After legalizing recreational marijuana last year, Colorado voters Tuesday are considering a tax on the drug.

The ballot measure represents the “politics of compromise,” said Rep. Jonathan Singer, the Democratic state legislator behind the tax proposal. The tax on marijuana must be high enough to generate revenue for enforcement but low enough to deter consumers from buying the drug on the black market, Singer said. [Read more…]