AB 3248

Bill Subjects

Cannabis Excise Tax Rate Reduction

Abstract

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) , an initiative measure, among other things, imposed a weight-based cultivation tax on harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market and a separate excise tax on purchasers of cannabis or cannabis products sold in this state at the rate of 15% of the gross receipts of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer, as specified. Existing law that amended AUMA, beginning on January 1, 2023, discontinued the cultivation tax, and, for the 2025–26 fiscal year and every 2 years thereafter, requires, on or before May 1 of the fiscal year immediately preceding the applicable fiscal year, the cannabis excise tax rate to be adjusted by a percentage that will generate an amount of revenue that would have been collected pursuant to the cultivation tax imposed prior to its discontinuation, as specified. Under this bill, the portion of the rate of the excise tax that is not subject to the above-described cultivation tax adjustment would be reduced from 15% to 5%. AUMA authorizes legislative amendment of its provisions with a 23 vote of both houses, without submission to the voters, to further its purposes and intent, except as specified. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.