Marijuana is worth more than alcohol to Massachusetts for the first time ever

The nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation declared that the state budget gap for the fiscal year 2012 would be $5 billion if the measure, and the sales tax cutback relief question passed in the November election. Micheal Widmer, president of the organization stated that his group did not have an outright position on the ballot questions, but that the two tax cuts would be an “utter disaster” relating to the budget, due to a removal of $2.5 billion a year from the tax base if they were enacted. Michael Widmer, “We’ve got this huge structural deficit in fiscal 2012 even if the ballot questions aren’t approved by the voters. If they are, it’s a $5 billion hole.” Generally, any Chapter 180 corporation, association, or organization must pay a yearly excise tax of .57% on the gross receipts from the sale of alcoholic beverages. While sales tax refunds are available for goods that are purchased in Massachusetts and exported, Massachusetts excise taxes paid on goods are generally non-refundable. Incentives may exist allowing certain state of federal excise taxes to be refunded on goods bought for specific uses, but such incentives change frequently.

The Florida beer excise tax was last changed in 1983 and has lost 54% of its value. If the tax had kept pace with inflation, instead of 0.48 per gallon, it would now be $0.00 per gallon. The Connecticut beer excise tax was last changed in 1989 and has lost 42% of its value. If the tax had kept pace with inflation, instead of 0.24 per gallon, it would now be $0.00 per gallon. The Colorado beer excise tax was last changed in 1976 and has lost 73% of its value. The California beer excise tax was last changed in 1991 and has lost 37% of its value. The Arkansas beer excise tax was last changed in 2001 and has lost 17% of its value.

An excise tax is not the same thing as the Massachusetts Sales Tax.

Excise taxes on alcohol are implemented by every state, as are excises on cigarettes and motor fuels like gasoline. In the hearing, Massachusetts Package Stores Association executive director https://www.bookstime.com/ Rob Mellion said increasing tax rates on alcoholic beverages in Massachusetts would push even more consumers over the state’s northern border to New Hampshire, which does not tax alcohol.

Khan, a former nurse, said sugary drinks like Coca-Cola are the largest source of added sugar in American diets, and lead to higher rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer, stroke, tooth decay and heart disease. Asked about the proposal, the office of Mayor Martin J. Walsh released a statement saying that the mayor “understands the critical need massachusetts income tax for additional funding for treatment programs in Boston,” but was noncommittal on support for the measure. City Council President Bill Linehan, who offered the proposal along with City Councilor Frank Baker, said that thousands of people are afflicted by alcohol and drug addiction, many of them unemployed and a burden on the public.

Marijuana Bringing More Tax Revenue To Massachusetts Than Alcohol

The Maryland beer excise tax was last changed in 1972 and has lost 81% of its value. The Maine beer excise tax was last changed in 1986 and has lost 49% of its value. If the tax had kept pace with inflation, instead of 0.35 per gallon, it would now be $0.00 per gallon.

• Hinds said the Tax Expenditure Review Commission estimated, with the help of the Department of Revenue, that taxing alcohol at the same 6.25 percent rate as sales of other products would net the state over $120 million.
• Nearly $500 million of cannabis tax revenue in Colorado has supported the state’s public school system.
• But be careful, if you take stickers or glassware for example, to give away at an event, you are subject to self-charging yourself sales tax.
• The group was supported by over 90 nonprofit organizations that served state residents that needed addiction services.
• Voters in 2010, however, repealed a law that would have applied the newly raised sales tax rate to alcohol, with 52 percent opposing the tax change.

Officially, unlike the TTB with a designated tax-free zone, when your beer is packaged (bottled, canned, kegged, etc.) it becomes taxable in MA. Usually we recommend brewers take the position that beer manufacturing is complete when packaged. This is because when you go from a bright tank to packaging you can have some loss in total BBLs or bad packaging runs that make beer unsellable and therefore non-taxable. If you are going from the tank to tap, make sure you have a clearly marked tax determined tank and log the beer added as that becomes your taxable beer. The Tufts Daily, the independent student newspaper of Tufts University, recommended a ‘no’ vote on the measure. The publication stated, “While passage of the referendum would most likely lead liquor store owners and binge-drinking college students across the state to rejoice at the opportunity to sell and buy even cheaper Natty Light and Rubinoff, passing Question 1 is a bad idea.”