If you don’t think the marijuana revenue pendulum can swing too far, look at a tax singling out the prototype of a business providing clean, lucrative jobs. Some localities in California tax every ancillary business they can think of – even testing labs.
Someday, people will look back at some of those taxes and wonder, “What were they thinking? To prove they existed, here are some screen shots showing two localities taxing testing labs specifically. Lots more California localities tax testing labs under a catch-all cannabis business category.
That testing has to take place somewhere, under California law. What negative externalities doe testing labs create? Those high-tech, highly paid jobs create positive externalities.
Source is “Tax Rates for Cannabis in California Cities and Counties,” https://cityofshastalake.org/DocumentCenter/View/1460/California-Cannabis-Tax-Rates—July-20-2017-2?bidId=.
The Center for New Revenue 