The American Cannabis Report contacted BGP's Ruth Epstein for her observations regarding a recent CNBC article on a potential benefit of the GOP tax reform policy. The CNBC article, "How Tax Reform Could Push More States to Legalize Marijuana" suggests that certain high-tax states are slated to lose State and Local Tax (SALT) revenues under the new GOP plan, which will cause them to raise taxes 7-8% to make up the shortfall. These states risk losing residents who might leave the state, or might have to take extreme and unpopular measures such as increasing property taxes. In the past, legalized gaming proliferated to 40 states due to similar revenue-seeking necessities. "One state, looking f
From Ganjapreneur: "A coalition of conservative groups has sent a letter to federal legislative leaders urging them to preserve the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment, which protects state-approved medical cannabis programs from federal interference. The letter’s signatories include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, Campaign for Liberty, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Institute for Liberty, and Taxpayer’s Protection Alliance. “On behalf of the thousands of Americans whose views and values our organizations represent, we respectfully request that as you consider an end-of-the-year omnibus [fiscal year] 2018 appropriations bill, you preserve a provision
"The legal cannabis market, currently worth about $8 billion, is predicted to triple in size to $22.6 billion in total annual sales by 2021, according to cannabis industry tracker, Arcview Market Research. That could make it bigger than the America’s most profitable sports organization, the National Football League, which saw about $13 billion in revenue last year and aims to reach $25 billion by 2027." - Reuters Two years ago, Alan Gertner was head of Google’s Asia-Pacific sales team in Singapore, handling more than $100 million in business. Now, he begins his day in a small Toronto office, building a cannabis brand that sells fancy smoking accessories such as vaporizers and bongs that cost
With a looming congressional vote on a massive revision of US tax structure, the issue of the inequitable taxation on state-legal cannabis businesses has charged to the fore. And with good reason: a typical American business pays 30% of its "taxable income" in taxes, which means the amount of income after deductible business expenses are subtracted. On the other hand, a typical state-legal cannabis business (a licensed business in one of the 29 states + the District of Columbia where medicinal and/or recreational cannabis has been approved by its voters) are not allowed to take those deductions, and are thus taxed at a typical rate of 70%. The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) ha
