Category: Retailer

California Marijuana Retailer

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Tax Guide for Cannabis Businesses

Tax Guide for Cannabis Businesses

Confused about taxes for a California Cannabis Business?  The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) (formerly BOE) has a good resource for you – Tax Guide for Cannabis Businesses.  Tax information is available for California marijuana distributors, retailers, cultivators, and manufacturers.

The guide is intended to provide general information regarding issues relating to the Sales and Use Tax Laws, Cannabis Tax Law, and other programs administered by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration which may affect marijuana businesses.

Any business that sells cannabis or cannabis products, must register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for a seller’s permit.  Cannabis cultivators, processors, manufacturers, retailers, microbusinesses, and distributors making sales are required to obtain and maintain a seller’s permit as a prerequisite for applying for a license with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Department of Consumer Affairs, or the California Department of Public Health.

Distributors of cannabis and cannabis products must also register with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for a cannabis tax permit to report and pay the two new cannabis taxes to the CDTFA.  The cannabis tax permit is in addition to the seller’s permit.

Learn more about California Cannabis Licensing and California Cannabis Law.

Contact us to learn more about California state or local cannabis regulations, cannabis regulatory compliance, and cannabis litigation.

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The Impact of Marijuana Dispensaries on Crime

Marijuana Dispensary

Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Irvine assessed the impact of marijuana dispensary closures on neighborhood crime rates in the City of Los Angeles.  Researchers analyzed crime data in the days immediately prior to and then immediately after the City ordered several hundred marijuana dispensaries to be closed.  Results were reported in the Journal of Urban Economics.

Surprisingly, researchers discovered that the marijuana dispensary closures were associated with a significant increase in crime in the blocks immediately surrounding a closed dispensary, compared with the blocks around marijuana dispensaries allowed to remain open.

The study results demonstrated that the marijuana dispensaries were not the crime magnets that they were often described as, but instead reduced crime in their immediate vicinity.

“We find no evidence that closures decreased crime,” authors wrote. “Instead, we find a significant relative increase in crime around closed dispensaries.”

And when breaking down the effect by types of crime, researchers found that the increases in crime after marijuana dispensary closures were driven by the types of crime most plausibly deterred by bystanders: property crime and theft from vehicles.

Specifically, researchers estimated that an open marijuana dispensary provides over $30,000 per year in social benefit in terms of larcenies prevented.

Read the full report – Going to pot? The impact of dispensary closures on crime.