Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Tax

Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Tax
Medical marijuana will be taxed at the 1% pharmaceutical rate. In addition, there will be a 7% privilege tax imposed on cultivation centers and dispensaries. Revenue generated by the privilege tax will be deposited in the Compassionate Use and Medical Cannabis Fund, to cover the cost of administering and enforcing the Act
Wholesale medical cannabis sales in Illinois totaled about $1.5 million during the first two months of legal sales, which means Illinois collected about  $107,000 in taxes during this time. Wholesalers pay a seven percent tax to the state, as reported.
Illinois patients purchased about $1.7 million worth of medical cannabis during November and December at average retail prices of $14 to $15 per gram.
As of Nov. 9, 2015, registered patients in Illinois’ medical cannabis pilot program numbered approximately 3,300, according to the Illinois DPH, although dispensaries served just 2,815 patients during November and December.
The new revenue stream comes at a critical time in Illinois, as the state faces a massive debt and pension crisis.
State lawmakers haven’t shown signs of warming toward recreational marijuana legalization thus far, but it’s possible that medical marijuana tax revenues may bend political will in that direction.
States that have already legalized recreational marijuana are seeing very strong cannabis-related tax revenues.
Colorado took in approximately $70 million in marijuana tax revenue during the last fiscal year alone. That’s nearly double the $42 million collected by Colorado in liquor taxes during the same period
Illinois Medical Marijuana Sales Tax