Nevada Rakes in $3.7M in Taxes from First Month of Pot Sales

During its opening month of recreational marijuana sales, the state of Nevada has already raked in $3.68 million worth of tax revenue, according to state officials.

The figure combines a 15 percent wholesale tax along with a 10 percent retail tax and accounts for all sales made in July, the first month of Nevada’s fiscal year. Recreational cannabis was legalized on July 1st.

The wholesale tax, which was charged to cultivators, will go towards funding for state schools. The retail tax will be set aside for the state’s ‘rainy day’ fund.

In total, Nevada dispensaries sold a total of $27.1 million worth of legal weed in its debut month. The figure almost doubles Colorado and Oregon’s opening months and is nearly seven times the amount of tax revenue Washington garnered in its first 30 days of business.

Nevada Tax Department spokeswoman Stephanie Klapstein told the Associated Press referred to the accrued revenue as “good numbers,” and believes it’s on par with the latest biennial projection of $120 million. The state expects to garner around $5 million in monthly revenue.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval originally projected a $100 million figure over the first two fiscal years of legal marijuana, but that has since increased due to the states’ initial success.

Ironically, the state of Nevada didn’t expect any revenue in the initial month of sales, due to question marks surrounding licensing and local ordinances of the state.

Final Hit: Nevada Rakes in $3.7M in Taxes from First Month of Pot Sales

While the future remains promising for Nevada’s legal cannabis industry, there have been several roadblocks when it comes to distribution. The state remains in a court battle with alcohol distributors that have attempted to block the state’s attempt to distribute legal cannabis and has only been able to license a handful of dispensaries.

The application fee for just recreational licenses is currently $5,000, while actual licensing fees are somewhere between $10,000 and $30,000.

“I think it’s fair to say that a number of the establishments struggled to get all of their inventory in stock, so I think it’s safe to say that it affected them, but I can’t quantify it,” Klapstein said.

Regardless of the setbacks, it appears the future is bright for legal cannabis sales in the state of Nevada.