I ask this question because the Board of Equalization wants dispensaries to pay up.
It's interesting because this is what the California Tax Code States
Pretty clear there that medicine isn't supposed to be taxed. It would seem that the board of equalization is ignoring the spirit of the law and instead focusing on the letter of it. And by the letter, because MMJ is "reccomended" not prescribed and I haven't seen a real pharmacy yet sell weed.
So ok fine lets play hardball and go by the fucking letter of the law.
So is Cannabis a vegetable?
http://www.boe.ca.gov/news/pdf/medseller2007.pdf said:IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SELLERS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
As part of the Board of Equalization’s education outreach efforts, we are contacting sellers of medical marijuana in California to clarify the application of tax to sales of medical marijuana. If you sell medical marijuana, your sales in California are generally subject to tax and you are required to hold a seller’s permit. You may register for a seller’s permit in person at one of our field offices or by mail. Applications for seller’s permits are available at our field offices and may be printed from our website at www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/boe400spa.pdf.
You are required to obtain a seller’s permit if you are engaged in business in California and intend to make sales or leases that are subject to tax. If you do not obtain a seller’s permit or fail to report and pay the taxes due, you will be subject to interest and penalty charges.
The application for a seller’s permit asks for information regarding the products you sell, the names and addresses of your suppliers, and the products you purchase. If you decline to provide this information for any reason including concerns about confidentiality and self-incrimination, a permit will still be issued to allow you to report and pay the taxes due on your sales. However, without the requested information, we may not know enough about your business to be able to provide copies of pertinent publications and regulations or other relevant information.
Having a seller’s permit does not mean you have authority to make unlawful sales. The permit only provides a way to remit any sales and use taxes due. The permit states, “NOTICE TO PERMITTEE: You are required to obey all federal and state laws that regulate or control your business. This permit does not allow you to do otherwise.”
For more information concerning applications for a seller's permit, please contact one of our field offices or call our Information Center at 800-400-7115 (TDD/TTY 800-735-2929). Staff are available to assist you from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific time, Monday through Friday, except state holidays.
It's interesting because this is what the California Tax Code States
6369. (a) There are exempted from the taxes imposed by this part
the gross receipts from the sale in this state of, and the storage,
use, or other consumption in this state of, medicines:
(1) Prescribed for the treatment of a human being by a person
authorized to prescribe the medicines, and dispensed on prescription
filled by a registered pharmacist in accordance with law.
(2) Furnished by a licensed physician and surgeon, dentist, or
podiatrist to his or her own patient for treatment of the patient.
(3) Furnished by a health facility for treatment of any person
pursuant to the order of a licensed physician and surgeon, dentist,
or podiatrist.
(4) Sold to a licensed physician and surgeon, podiatrist, dentist,
or health facility for the treatment of a human being.
(5) Sold to this state or any political subdivision or municipal
corporation thereof, for use in the treatment of a human being; or
furnished for the treatment of a human being by a medical facility or
clinic maintained by this state or any political subdivision or
municipal corporation thereof.
(6) Furnished without charge by a pharmaceutical manufacturer or
distributor to a licensed physician, surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, or
health facility for the treatment of a human being, or furnished by
a pharmaceutical manufacturer or distributor without charge to an
institution of higher education for instruction or research, provided
that the exemption provided in this paragraph is limited to
medicines of a type that can be dispensed only (A) for the treatment
of a human being and (B) pursuant to prescriptions issued by persons
authorized to prescribe medicines. The exemption provided in this
paragraph shall include the materials used to package, and the
constituent elements and ingredients used to produce, the medicines
described in this paragraph and is intended to preclude any
imposition of tax pursuant to Section 6094 or 6095 with respect to
those materials, elements, and ingredients.
(b) "Medicines" as used in this section, means any substance or
preparation intended for use by external or internal application to
the human body in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or
prevention of disease and commonly recognized as a substance or
preparation intended for that use. However, "medicines" does not
include any of the following:
(1) Any auditory, prosthetic, ophthalmic, or ocular device or
appliance.
(2) Articles that are in the nature of splints, bandages, pads,
compresses, supports, dressings, instruments, apparatus,
contrivances, appliances, devices, or other mechanical, electronic,
optical, or physical equipment or article or the component parts and
accessories thereof.
(3) Any alcoholic beverage the manufacture, sale, purchase,
possession, or transportation of which is licensed and regulated by
the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (Division 9 (commencing with
Section 23000) of the Business and Professions Code).
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), "medicines" as used in this
section means and includes any of the following:
(1) Sutures, whether or not permanently implanted.
(2) Bone screws, bone pins, pacemakers, and other articles, other
than dentures, permanently implanted in the human body to assist the
functioning of any natural organ, artery, vein, or limb and which
remain or dissolve in the body.
(3) (A) Orthotic devices, other than orthodontic devices, designed
to be worn on the person of the user as a brace, support, or
correction for the body structure, and replacement parts for these
devices. However, orthopedic shoes and supportive devices for the
foot are not exempt unless they are custom-made biomechanical foot
orthoses or are an integral part of a leg brace or artificial leg.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, "custom-made biomechanical
foot orthoses" means an individually prescribed foot orthosis which
is custom fabricated over a neutral or near neutral subtalar joint
with a pronated midtarsal joint position positive plaster model of
the patient's foot, which model, when the cast is modified to support
the osseous position of the forefoot in relationship to the
rearfoot, embodies the angular osseous relationships of the anterior
and posterior portions of the foot.
(4) Prosthetic devices, and replacement parts for those devices,
designed to be worn on or in the person of the user to replace or
assist the functioning of a natural part of the human body, other
than auditory, ophthalmic, and ocular devices or appliances, and
other than dentures, removable or fixed bridges, crowns, caps,
inlays, artificial teeth, and other dental prosthetic materials and
devices.
(5) Artificial limbs and eyes, or their replacement parts, for
human beings.
(6) Programmable drug infusion devices to be worn on or implanted
in the human body.
(d) "Health facility" as used in this section has the meaning
ascribed to it in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, and
also includes any "clinic" as defined in Section 1200 of the Health
and Safety Code.
(e) Insulin and insulin syringes furnished by a registered
pharmacist to a person for treatment of diabetes as directed by a
physician shall be deemed to be dispensed on prescription within the
meaning of this section.
(f) Orthotic and prosthetic devices, and replacement parts for
these devices, furnished pursuant to the written order of a physician
or podiatrist, shall be deemed to be dispensed on prescription
within the meaning of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), whether or
not the devices are furnished by a registered pharmacist.
(g) Mammary prostheses, and any appliances and related supplies
necessary as the result of any surgical procedure by which an
artificial opening is created in the human body for the elimination
of natural waste, shall be deemed to be dispensed on prescription
within the meaning of this section.
Pretty clear there that medicine isn't supposed to be taxed. It would seem that the board of equalization is ignoring the spirit of the law and instead focusing on the letter of it. And by the letter, because MMJ is "reccomended" not prescribed and I haven't seen a real pharmacy yet sell weed.
So ok fine lets play hardball and go by the fucking letter of the law.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=rtc&group=06001-07000&file=6351-6380 said:6359. (a) There are exempted from the taxes imposed by this part
the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other
consumption in this state of, food products for human consumption.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "food products" include all
of the following:
(1) Cereals and cereal products, oleomargarine, meat and meat
products, fish and fish products, eggs and egg products, vegetables
and vegetable products, fruit and fruit products, spices and salt,
sugar and sugar products, candy, gum, confectionery, coffee and
coffee substitutes, tea, and cocoa and cocoa products.
(2) Milk and milk products, milkshakes, malted milks, and any
other similar type beverages that are composed at least in part of
milk or a milk product and that require the use of milk or a milk
product in their preparation.
(3) All fruit juices, vegetable juices, and other beverages,
whether liquid or frozen, including bottled water, but excluding
spirituous, malt, or vinous liquors or carbonated beverages.
(c) For purposes of this section, "food products" do not include
medicines and preparations in liquid, powdered, granular, tablet,
capsule, lozenge, and pill form sold as dietary supplements or
adjuncts.
(d) None of the exemptions in this section apply to any of the
following:
(1) When the food products are served as meals on or off the
premises of the retailer.
(2) When the food products are furnished, prepared, or served for
consumption at tables, chairs, or counters or from trays, glasses,
dishes, or other tableware whether provided by the retailer or by a
person with whom the retailer contracts to furnish, prepare, or serve
food products to others.
(3) When the food products are ordinarily sold for immediate
consumption on or near a location at which parking facilities are
provided primarily for the use of patrons in consuming the products
purchased at the location, even though those products are sold on a
"take out" or "to go" order and are actually packaged or wrapped and
taken from the premises of the retailer.
(4) When the food products are sold for consumption within a
place, the entrance to which is subject to an admission charge,
except for national and state parks and monuments, marinas,
campgrounds, and recreational vehicle parks.
(5) When the food products are sold through a vending machine.
(6) When the food products sold are furnished in a form suitable
for consumption on the seller's premises, and both of the following
apply:
(A) Over 80 percent of the seller's gross receipts are from the
sale of food products.
(B) Over 80 percent of the seller's retail sales of food products
are sales subject to tax pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (7).
(7) When the food products are sold as hot prepared food products.
(e) "Hot prepared food products," for the purposes of paragraph
(7) of subdivision (d), include a combination of hot and cold food
items or components where a single price has been established for the
combination and the food products are sold in combination, such as a
hot meal, a hot specialty dish or serving, a hot sandwich, or a hot
pizza, including any cold components or side items. Paragraph (7) of
subdivision (d) does not apply to a sale for a separate price of
bakery goods or beverages (other than bouillon, consomme, or soup),
or where the food product is purchased cold or frozen; "hot prepared
food products" means those products, items, or components that have
been prepared for sale in a heated condition and that are sold at any
temperature that is higher than the air temperature of the room or
place where they are sold.
(f) Notwithstanding paragraph (6) of subdivision (d), if the
seller elects to separately account for sales of food products
specified in subdivision (b), then the gross receipts from the sale
of those food products shall be exempt under subdivision (a),
provided that the separate accounting is fully documented in the
seller's records. However, if the seller's records do not reflect
the separate accounting of the gross receipts from sales of
nontaxable food products, the seller's election under this
subdivision shall be revoked.
So is Cannabis a vegetable?
Oh yes, oh yes it is!http://www.yourdictionary.com/vegetable said:vegetable definition
veg·eta·ble (vej′tə bəl, vej′ə tə-)
adjective
Etymology: ME < ML vegetabilis, vegetative, capable of growth < LL, animating, enlivening < L vegetare: see vegetate
- of, or having the nature of, plants in general the vegetable kingdom
- of, having the nature of, made from, consisting of, or produced by edible vegetables
noun
- broadly, any plant, as distinguished from animal or inorganic matter
- any herbaceous plant that is eaten whole or in part, raw or cooked
- the edible part of such a plant, as the root (e.g., a carrot), tuber (a potato), seed (a pea), fruit (a tomato), stem (celery), or leaf (lettuce)
- a person thought of as like a vegetable, as because of leading a dull, unthinking existence or because of having lost consciousness, the use of the mind, etc.
