Originally published March 2 2015
Legal cannabis generating so much tax revenue in CO that government may have to give some back to residents!
by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
(NaturalNews) The Colorado legislature is desperately trying to finagle its way out of having to refund an excess of tax revenues generated from legal cannabis sales in the Centennial State. So much tax money has been brought into the state's coffers since marijuana was legalized in 2014 that a portion of it will have to be refunded to taxpayers in accordance with Colorado's Taxpayers' Bill of Rights.
Passed in 1992, the voter-approved constitutional amendment requires the state of Colorado to refund taxpayers when the state brings in more tax revenue than allotted under the law. Based on a formula that looks at both inflation and population growth, any determined overpayments are directly refunded to taxpayers, a situation that has occurred six times since the amendment was passed, with more than $3.3 billion being disbursed.
The purpose of the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights is to protect Colorado taxpayers from being bilked by the government -- once the approved threshold for a particular tax is reached, the government is prohibited from collecting any more and must refund any excess. Sounds perfectly fair, right? Except in the case of legal cannabis, both Republicans and Democrats are playing politics and attempting to revive Reefer Madness-era stigmas about marijuana in order to keep tax money that doesn't belong to them.
According to reports, a bipartisan effort at the state level is seeking to create a new ballot amendment that, if voters approve it, will exempt cannabis tax revenue from having to be refunded once it exceeds the legal limit. The politicians pushing this needless exemption have no legitimate reason for doing so other than "it's marijuana!" -- which is no longer a valid argument in this post-prohibition era.
"I think it's appropriate that we keep the money for marijuana that the voters said that we should," was the empty argument put forth by Republican Senate President Bill Cadman, who supports creating a special ballot question to exempt cannabis taxes from being included as part of the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights.
$54 million in excess cannabis taxes to be refunded back to Coloradans
Cannabis taxes in Colorado are excessively high as it is, raising the market price of the plant's flower buds and extracts at approved retail dispensaries some 30 percent. Many adult users recognize that the government shouldn't even be taxing cannabis in the first place, as it's just a plant, after all. So a nominal refund, they say, is only fair and right under existing state law.
"I don't care if they write me a check, or refund it in my taxes," stated 50-year-old David Huff, a carpenter from Aurora, to the media. "The taxes are too high, and they should give it back."
In 2013, one year after Colorado voters approved the legalization of recreational cannabis, voters also approved a 15 percent excise tax on marijuana to fund public schools, as well as an additional 10 percent sales tax for lawmakers to spend as they wish. Based on the current numbers, though, which still need to be finalized, about $54 million in excess marijuana tax revenues, according to The Denver Post, will end up having to be refunded in accordance with the law.
"The Republicans should be the first ones on board with limiting how much to feed the beast and this should be the easiest call in the world for them," wrote Jazz Shaw for Hot Air about the GOP's hypocrisy in opposing this tax refund.
"I understand that many of them probably opposed legalization in the first place, but once the product is changed from green leaves into green tax dollars, it's all the same."
Sources:
http://www.hightimes.com
http://www.denverpost.com
http://hotair.com
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