California Cannabis Taxes and IRC Section 280E

california marijuana tax
Returns are due next month. Time to hustle.

In California, the first Cannabis Tax Return is due on April 30, 2018 and many of our clients are now working through the issues related to the Cannabis Cultivation and Excise Tax. In addition, many marijuana businesses must file their first 2018 estimated federal tax payment by April 17, 2018. To estimate taxable income, every Cannabis business must understand how to treat the Cannabis Cultivation Tax and the Cannabis Excise Tax on their federal income tax return. Are California Cannabis Taxes an expense of a cannabis business? If so, are cannabis taxes deductible for federal income tax purposes?

We have discussed the mechanics of IRC §280E here and here. IRC §280E disallows deductions for cannabis cultivators, manufactures, distributors and retailers. However, expenses included in cost of goods sold (“COGS”) reduce taxable income and operates outside the reach of IRC §280E. Generally speaking, IRC §280E is less damaging to cultivators than retailers, because cultivators can attribute more business expenses to COGS.

Cultivation Tax
California imposes a cultivation tax on harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market. The tax is:

• $9.25 per dry-weight ounce of cannabis flower;
• $2.75 per dry-weight ounce of cannabis leaves; and
• $1.29 per dry-weight ounce of fresh plant.

The tax is imposed on the Cultivator alone; under state rules, cannabis cannot be sold unless the tax is paid.

IRS regulations (Treas. Reg. §1.471-11) provide Cultivators and Manufactures with a helpful roadmap regarding what costs are appropriate to include in COGS. Taxes can be included in COGS if they are otherwise allowed as a deduction under IRC §164. Under IRC §164, state taxes are deductible if they are “paid or accrued … carrying on a trade or business”. In addition, the state taxes may be included in COGS if they are “attributable to assets incident to and necessary for production or manufacturing operations or processes”. For example, property taxes are included in COGS. Finally, the regulations look to whether a tax is included in COGS in the business’s financial statements.

Cultivation taxes are paid or accrued in carrying on a trade or business. The cannabis plant is an asset of the business (i.e., raw material) that is the core ingredient in all cannabis products grown or processed. Clearly cannabis is the raw material incident and necessary to production; cannabis may not be sold under California law unless the Cultivation Tax is paid. Finally, the tax is imposed based on a characteristic of a business asset (i.e., weight of raw material), like a property tax.  Accordingly, there is a reasonable argument that IRS regulations require that the California Cultivation Tax be included in COGS of a Cultivator.

Excise Tax
California imposes a 15% Cannabis Excise Tax on the purchases of cannabis or cannabis product sold. Generally, the tax is imposed on the average market price. The average market price is the Distributor’s wholesale cost plus a mark-up determined by the CDTFA. Currently the mark-up is 60%. For example, a retailer’s cost of an ounce of cannabis is $75/ounce plus $5 of transportation cost. The mark-up is $48($80 *60%). The average market price is $128 ($80 +$48); the Cannabis Excise tax is $19.20 ($128*15%). The Retailer’s COGS includes the $80 cost. The Retailer will charge the consumer tax of $19.20. Note that for cannabis retailers, COGS is generally limited to the direct purchase cost of cannabis.

So, the big question here is: Should the $19.20 of Cannabis Excise tax be included in the Retailers COGS? By statute, the cannabis excise tax “shall be imposed upon purchases of cannabis”. The Retailer collects the tax from the consumer and pays the tax over to a California Distributor. As the tax is the ultimate liability of the cannabis purchaser, the statutes suggest that the cannabis tax collected is not a cost to the Retailer. Like state sales taxes, the Cannabis Excise Tax is a liability to the Distributor. As such the Cannabis Excise Tax is reflected on the Retailer’s balance sheet and not as an expense on the income statement. The Cannabis Excise Tax probably escapes the reach of IRC §280E.

Although California cannabis taxes do not conflict with IRC §280E, all cannabis businesses should consult with their tax advisors before taking a final approach. For Cultivators and Manufactures, there is a reasonable argument that the Cultivation Tax is included in COGS. For Retailers, there is a reasonable argument that the Cannabis Excise Tax is passed directly to the consumer and, therefore, outside the reach of IRC §280E. At the very least, that may be a good place to start the discussion.