CHICAGO (CBS) — Illinois collected nearly $10.5 million in taxes from sales of recreational marijuana in January, putting the state on track to surpass estimates for the first six months of the year.
The Illinois Department of Revenue said adult-use pot sales created $7,332,058 in cannabis taxes and $3,147,928.29 in sales taxes in the first month of legal recreational weed.
Those numbers put Illinois on pace to surpass the $28 million Gov. JB Pritzker’s office estimated the state would collect in cannabis taxes by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30.
The governor’s office has estimated cannabis tax revenues will grow to $127 million in fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1.
The state charges a 7% tax on the sales of cannabis by cultivators and craft growers to dispensaries.
The tax on cannabis purchases from dispensaries varies depending on the form and potency of marijuana being sold. Flower-based products with a THC level of 35% or less are taxed at 10%, all pot-infused products like edibles are taxed at 20%, and flower-based products with THC levels above 35% are taxed at 25%.
After covering the state’s administrative costs for overseeing the legal pot industry, 45% of cannabis tax revenue will go toward reinvesting in communities that were hit hardest by the war on drugs, and to funding substance abuse treatment and prevention programs, according to Pritzker’s office.
Another 35% of cannabis tax revenue will go toward the state’s general revenue fund, 10% will go toward paying off the state’s unpaid bills, 8% will go to local governments, and 2% will go to studying the public health impacts of legalizing recreational marijuana.
Sales tax revenue from recreational pot sales will be split between the state’s general revenue fund and local governments where marijuana products are sold.
