Congressman Bluemanuer: Marijuana tax aid bill

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer has introduced the Small Business Tax Equity Act which aims to readjust differences in tax law on how marijuana businesses are treated.  Here is Blumenauer’s press release:

“…Small Business Tax Equity Act which creates an exception to Internal Revenue Code Section 280E to allow marijuana businesses operating in compliance with state law to take deductions associated with the sale of marijuana like any other legal business.

“State-legal cannabis businesses are denied equal treatment under 280E. They cannot fully deduct the cost of doing business which means they pay two or three times as much as a similar non-cannabis business,” said Blumenauer. “This grotesquely unfair treatment incentivizes people to cut corners. If Congress wants to get serious about supporting small businesses and ending the illicit cannabis market, it is commonsense that we allow legal cannabis operations to deduct business expenses, just like any other industry.” “MCBA is proud to support this legislation that would help level the playing field for minority cannabis entrepreneurs who simply cannot become profitable under 280E,” said Kaliko Castille, President of the Minority Cannabis Business Association. “It is hard enough to survive as a minority entrepreneur, but it is long past time for us to treat state legal cannabis businesses like any other small business in our country and tax us fairly.”

“The two greatest challenges cannabis entrepreneurs are currently faced with are the lack of access to capital and unfair tax burdens. By eliminating the impact of 280E on state-legal cannabis operations, Congress would be giving these businesses, including small and minority operators, the opportunity to remain financially viable and to reinvest in their companies, communities, and workforce through tax credits and deductions that are routinely offered to other domestic industries. This relief is crucial for an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of American workers and generates billions of dollars in annual state and federal taxes – albeit without access to traditional financial resources,” said Saphira Galoob, Executive Director of the National Cannabis Roundtable. .”

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