New Mexico lawmakers are looking to keep cannabis prices down with a bill that would stop an incoming tax hike in its tracks.
SB 89, sponsored by Sen. Katy Duhigg (D), would remove language from the state's marijuana law that imposes a one percent increase to the cannabis excise tax every year through 2030. The tax currently sits at 12 percent, which, when combined with the variable Gross Receipts Tax, comes out to nearly 19 percent—a figure that Ben Lewinger, Executive Director at the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, says is just about right.
"In 2019, when the state began in earnest to work on legalizing cannabis for adults, the Governor's Working Group on Cannabis Legalization researched what the right tax rate was that the average consumer would pay to purchase safe, tested cannabis in the regulated market," Lewinger tells New Mexico News. "That magic number is 18 to 19 percent, which is what we have now."
But if the law remains unchanged, and the yearly increase remains in place, the excise tax will ultimately cap out at a staggering 18 percent in 2030. That will leave consumers paying in excess of 25 percent with Gross Receipts Taxes included. This tax hike could have a negative impact on consumers' wallets at a time when prices in grocery stores and at gas pumps are inflated.
Read more at Santa Fe Reporter