Washington State Cannabis Tax Explained
We know. The last thing you want to spend your time reading about is taxes! Unfortunately, Washington State Cannabis Tax consumes the time of most cannabis industry players and translates to the prices that you pay in-store. We’ve put together 3 things you should know about the Washington State Cannabis Tax. Check it out!
1. WA State Excise Tax on adult-use cannabis is by far the highest such tax in the U.S.
Currently, Washington State Excise Tax on adult-use cannabis is 37%. In addition, our local Bellingham sales tax rate 8.8%. That means, 45.8% of what you spend on weed goes to taxes! Tax rates vary from state to state. Leafly breaks it down for us. Here are a few:
Alaska: Purchases are not subject to any statewide cannabis tax, although some municipalities do charge a cannabis excise tax.
Arizona: Adult-use retail sales – Purchases are subject to a 16% cannabis excise tax in addition to a 5.6% statewide retail sales tax, bringing the total to 21.6%.
California: Statewide 15% cannabis excise tax, state retail sales tax of 7.25%, and an automatic local sales tax of up to 1%. Local municipalities may, at their discretion, tack on an additional businesses tax of up to 15%. So a customer may pay anywhere from 23% to 38% in tax.
2. Studies show that even with a high tax rate, consumers aren’t being pushed to the illicit markets
From Leafly: “The main thing that we see is that when prices go up people substitute within the retailer, from more expensive products to less expensive products,” Hollenbeck said, “But we don’t see them going to the other (legal) retailer across town. It just doesn’t look like they’re willing to do that.”
3. There are no tax deductions for the cannabis industry
Due to strict regulations processing and retail operations are forced to spend dollars on attorneys and advisors if they want to avoid government penalties and massive tax hits. Zero tax deductions and legal fees are making it challenging for cannabis producers, manufacturers, and dispensaries to scale.
