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ARTICLE · 05 MARCH 2018

Budget 2018: Cannabis Taxation Plans Move Forward

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Budget 2018 moves forward with the Government's plans for the taxation of cannabis.

CanadaTax
Peter Botz
Peter Botz
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Budget 2018 moves forward with the Government's plans for the taxation of cannabis.  Plans to tax cannabis have gained momentum as legalization approaches, which is currently expected this summer.  A related goal has been to keep taxes on legal product low enough to discourage sales activity in the black market.

Components of the overall taxation of the industry will include the full range of regular taxes, such as income tax on business profits, GST on product sales, and the property taxes and licence fees payable by businesses in the normal course of operations.  These are all components of taxation that arise under the existing framework of laws applicable to all businesses, and are not specifically addressed in Budget 2018.  Budget 2018 deals specifically with the Government's plan to impose a special excise tax on cannabis products.

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