Legislation was filed yesterday in Florida to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to take tax deductions equal to what they’d be allowed to take federally if medical marijuana wasn’t a schedule 1 controlled substance.
(Photo credit: AP Photo/Gosia Wozniacka).
House Bill 1427 would amend the state’s tax code to allow licensed medical marijuana treatment center to take “deductions and credits that would have been allowable for federal income tax purposes if not for section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code [IRS].”
Section 280E of the IRS code states that a business can not take federal take deductions if they distribute a substance that’s federally illegal, even if that substance is legal under state law.
HB 1427 was prefiled by State Representative Melony Bell (R) for the upcoming legislative session that begins on January 16. At that point the measure will receive a committee assignment. If enacted into law, HB 1427 would take effect on July 1.
In December Senate Ana Maria Rodriguez (R) filed Senate Bill 974, a measure similar to HB 1427 that would allow medical marijuana businesses to take tax deductions in an amount “equal to an expenditure that is eligible to be claimed as a federal income tax deduction but is disallowed because marijuana is a controlled substance under federal law”.
Medical marijuana was first legalized in 2016, with dispensaries opening in 2018.
