City Preps for Medical Marijuana Dispensary Tax

San Jose begins taxing medical marijuana dispensaries on Tuesday, following the passage of Measure U in the last election. To help ease the transition for dispensary owners, City Hall held a seminar on Monday morning on how to calculate and pay the 7 percent tax.

The first payment of the tax is due by the end of April, and owners will be required to file financial audits at that time.

The Marijuana Tax is one of the latest revenue opportunities for the city, struggling to cover a $110 million deficit. Though there were 102 dispensaries in the city as of late last year, there could be far more, many of them operating without a permit.

So, how is this going to play out?

7 Comments

  1. San Jose’s Budget Balancing Theme song

    – Up in Budget Smoke

    ( Cheech & Chong – Up In Smoke –

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCZap4o777g

    ( Pierluigi )
    Up in smoke
    That’s where budget money comes from
    for city pensions, subsidies
    and sometimes up my nose
    When troubled budget times
    Begin to bother me
    I take a big “bomber” toke
    and all city budget cares
    Go up in toke tax smoke

    ( Chuck )
    Up in smoke
    Donde todos es mi rey
    There will be no budget shortages
    Que dice no fumer
    So I roll un “bomber” budget toke
    Y me doy, un buen toke-ay
    Y despues I choke
    Y todos mis cares
    Go up in toke tax smoke

    Come on Council, let’s get high
    on toke taxes

    ( Council – All together now )

    Up in smoke
    That’s where budget salvation gonna be
    ‘Cause when we’re high
    The budget deficit
    Don’t bother us
    When life begins
    To be one depressing
    and confusing budget joke
    We take a big toke tax
    and all our city budget cares
    Go up in smoke

    We take a big toke tax
    and all our city budget cares
    Go up in smoke

  2. The city needs to tax and audit every single one of those “medical” (I use the term loosely) marijuana clubs. Has anyone taken a drive down Monterey road lately? There seems to be a marijuana dispensary on every other corner. They are mostly cash and claim to be non-profit, which I seriously question.

    The city is loosing out on serous revenue. Nice to see somone working on regulating those businesses, it appears they are out of control.

    Good luck SJ

  3. Personally I think that Marijuana should be legal.  It would take the criminal element out of it.  I don’t use the stuff, but to me why not tax it and make income from it instead of spending money trying to enforce it.  Just my opinion.

  4. The problem is the city attorney has designed Measure U as a justification to start lawsuits against every club in town…. Plus with the language used, if any club does pay the tax, the activities they do will be defined as a “sale”, and thus they will be incriminating themselves on a Federal level.

    San Jose had/has a lot of potential to do things right, but in this “grey area” of the law the focus needs to be on how to make cannabis clubs more “legal” instead of making them more “illegal”. All they do by making it hard to start/run a cannabis club, is give street dealers more money, and force medical patients into awkward and potentially dangerous situations. The new collective I founded, A2C2 – the All American Cannabis Club will pay the cities tax ONLY if the city changes the language of Measure U so that it does not violate our rights, and does not define the activities A2C2 does as something that is 100% illegal.

    Unfortunately as is Measure U will cost the city much more in legal fees, then any money it might raise… Thanks a lot Doyle & his masters… Love to see how you protect your own jobs & interests well continuing to screw the city, all its people & employees.

    The ignorant people who can not comprehend that conditions such as: ADD/ADHD, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, OCD and even Cramps, are valid Medical conditions under the language voters approved with prop 215 “or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief”, need to forget the propaganda they have been fed, and open their eyes to the truth. Talk to someone who has been put on all the pharmaceuticals, and been addicted to opiates by their doctors for years; only to find the “evil weed” they were taught to fear, works better, has less side effects, and gives them their life back… then keep doubting the medical aspect of cannabis clubs.

  5. New City Attorney Rick Doyle’s verse

    – Up in Budget Smoke

    ( Cheech & Chong – Up In Smoke –

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCZap4o777g

    ( Rick – Now )

    Up in smoke that’s where city
    budget salvation is gonna be

    ‘Cause when their selling tokes
    the budget deficit wasn’t
    going to bother us

    City toke sales are illegal
    so they can’t taxing tokes
    and solving city’s budget joke

    We can’t sell med tokes
    so all city toke sales taxes
    Go up in smoke

    We can’t sell med toke
    so all city toke sales taxes
    Go up in smoke

  6. Great idea taxing criminals. Who is going to collect this sin tax because they sure aren’t going to give it up willingly, are they. What is next a tax on gangbangers, prostitutes and street racers?

    Maybe Texas was right to send all they oddballs, welfare patients and paroles to California. We’ll just tax their stuff they want to do which equates to legalizing it in the eyes of the law. Thank you George Soros.

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