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1 Joseph Henchman, Taxing Marijuana: The Washington and Colorado Experience 1 (2014)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/taxfaab0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Tm        @Taxing Marijuana: The Washington
FOUNDATION             and Colorado Experience
FISCAL                 By Joseph Henchman
FACT                    Vice President, Legal & State Projects
Aug. 2014
No. 437
Key Findings
Because marijuana can be purchased as a cigarette, an edible, a liquid,
or vapor, all with a wide variety of concentrations, a specific excise tax is
untenable.
* Colorado collects tax revenue from marijuana sales through a 15 percent
excise based tax on the average wholesale market rate; a 10 percent state
tax on retail marijuana sales; a state sales tax of 2.9 percent; varied local
sales taxes; and local marijuana taxes such as a 3.5 percent tax in Denver.
* Washington State collects tax revenue from marijuana sales through a 25
percent tax on producer sales to processors; a 25 percent tax on processor
sales to retailers; a 25 percent tax on retailer sales to customers; a state
Business & Occupation (B&O) gross receipts tax; a state sales tax of 6.5
percent; and varied local sales taxes. The total effective tax rate to be
about 44 percent.
* Tax collections in Colorado have fallen short of projected revenue
estimates, whereas collections in Washington have fallen within the wide
range of project revenue estimates.
* Colorado's marijuana revenue shortfall is due to incorrect projections
about the switch from lower-taxed medical marijuana to higher-taxed retail
marijuana by consumers.
* States with possible upcoming ballot initiatives should take note of
effective and ineffective methods of taxing marijuana as the issue is likely
to expand.

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