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Connecticut Adult Use Sales Open: How Much Will Customers Pay in Taxes?

By Michelle Bodian

Jan 10, 2023

Adult-use cannabis sales started in Connecticut on January 10, 2023. While this historic moment has been in decades in the making, the tax collector still wants its piece of the pie.

The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) updated its forms and guidance on January 9, 2023. Here is a quick recap of the applicable taxes and registration process for Nutmeg State cannabis retailers, hybrid retailers, and micro-cultivators, and a look at how much their customers will pay in taxes.

How many tax rates are there?

  • Three

What are the different taxes?

  • Statewide cannabis tax, municipal tax, and sales and use tax.

Who is responsible for collecting the municipal tax? Is that filed separately?

  • Businesses are required to file municipal tax returns. DRS will act as an administrative passthrough to collect these municipal taxes.

Who must register?

  • Each cannabis retailer, hybrid retailer, and micro-cultivator must register with the state.

Who is responsible for collecting the taxes?

  • Cannabis retailers, hybrid retailers, and micro-cultivators collect the state tax directly from consumers at the time of sale.

How do businesses register?

  • Contact DRS at 860-541-3286, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by contacting the agency’s primary point of contact for registration issues, Michael Perkowski- Michael.Perkowski@ct.gov

How do you file?

What schedules must be filed?

  • Schedule A – Sales of Cannabis Plant Material

    • To report each sale of cannabis plant material during the period covered by the return.

  • Schedule B – Sales of Cannabis Edible Products

    • To report each sale of cannabis edible products made during the period covered by the return.

  • Schedule C – Sales of Cannabis, Other Than Plant Material or Cannabis Edible Products

    • To report each sale of cannabis, other than cannabis plant materials or cannabis edible products, made during the period covered by the return.

How is the statewide cannabis tax calculated?

  • It depends on the product being sold; there are three different tax rates as follows (as reflected on the product label):

    • Cannabis plant materials: $0.00625 per mg of total THC

    • Cannabis edible products: $0.0275 per mg of total THC

    • Cannabis, other than cannabis plant material or cannabis edible products:  $0.009 per mg of total THC

What is cannabis plant material?

  • It is defined the same as in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 21a-279a - cannabis flower, cannabis trim and all parts of any plant or species of the genus cannabis, or any infra specific taxon thereof, excluding a growing plant and the seeds thereof. Note, “hemp” as defined in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 22-61l, is expressly excluded.

What is an example of all three tax rates as combined for an edible product?

Example:

Chocolate Bar (100 mg of total THC/20 servings of 5 mg each)

Sales Price:

$30.00 

Sales Tax ($0.0635):

$  1.91 

Municipal level Tax ($0.03):

$  0.90

Statewide Cannabis Tax
               ($0.0275/mg
               on edible products)

 

$  2.75

Total

$35.56

Source: https://portal.ct.gov/DRS/Taxes/Cannabis/Cannabis-Tax

Are any cannabis product types or sales exempt from the state tax?

  • Yes, the state tax does not apply to:

    • Sales of cannabis for palliative use;

    • Transfers of cannabis to a transporter for transport to any other cultivator, micro-cultivator, food and beverage manufacturer, product manufacturer, product packager, dispensary facility, cannabis retailer, hybrid retailer or producer; or

    • Sales of cannabis by a delivery service to a consumer.

What is the filing due date?

  • On or before the end of the month following the monthly period covered by the return.

Contact VS's Tri-state team with any questions related to CT's cannabis industry.

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