In Case You Missed It: Pot Tax Would Only Generate .1% MA Budget

Saturday, March 15, 2014

GoLocalWorcester News Team

"In Case You Missed It," GoLocal's weekend feature, puts the week's top stories in one easy place for you to review and read. Check out what dominated the news cycle this week in Worcester and Central Mass and get all the details with these easy links.

Legalized, Taxed Marijuana Would Generate .1% of MA Budget

Based on the recent revenue reports from Colorado that showed them taking $2 million in taxes from the legalized sale of marijuana in January, if the Commonwealth were to legalize and tax marijuana in a similar manner, the state could generate roughly $32 million annually -- which is less than .01% of Massachusetts FY14 $34 billion budget.

The roughly $2 million collected in Colorado in January stemmed from $14.2 million in sales, which would put the state on path to collect nearly $25 million from taxes alone in 2014, with fees collected putting that number at least $10M higher, as the combined tax-and-fee amount for January was $3.5 million.

Read more about how taxed, legalized marijuana would impact the state HERE.

Related Slideshow: Potential Revenue From Legalized Pot in NE States

Using Colorado as an example, GoLocal analyzed how much potential revenue each New England state could make--and how impactful that would be to the state budgets--by following the same path.

In Colorado, recreational marijuana sales are taxed through a 12.9 percent sales tax alond with a 15 percent excise tax.

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