California made $60.9 million in tax revenue from cannabis sales in the first quarter of 2018, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.
The revenue collected includes state cultivation, excise and sales taxes, but doesn’t include local tax revenue collected by cities or counties, the agency said.
California voters approved Prop. 64 – the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act – in November 2016. On January 2018, two new cannabis taxes went into effect: a cultivation tax on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market and a 15 percent excise tax on the purchase of cannabis and cannabis products.
Cannabis and cannabis products are subject to state and local sales tax at the time of retail sale.
The breakdown of taxes collected:
- California’s excise tax on cannabis generated $32 million in revenue for the first quarter of calendar year 2018.
- The cultivation tax generated $1.6 million, and
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- the sales tax generated $27.3 million in revenue.
- Medicinal cannabis is exempt from sales tax if the purchaser holds a valid Medical Marijuana Identification card.
