Rev. & Tax. Code, § 34011 · Chapter 2. Cannabis Taxes

Rev. & Tax. Code, § 34011

Review required

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) (1) Effective January 1, 2018, a cannabis excise tax shall be imposed upon purchasers of cannabis or cannabis products sold in this state at the rate of 15 percent of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. A purchaser’s liability for the cannabis excise tax is not extinguished until the cannabis excise tax has been paid to this state except that an invoice, receipt, or other document from a cannabis retailer given to the purchaser pursuant to this subdivision is sufficient to relieve the purchaser from further liability for the tax to which the invoice, receipt, or other document refers.

(2) Each cannabis retailer shall provide a purchaser with an invoice, receipt, or other document that includes a statement that reads: “The cannabis excise taxes are included in the total amount of this invoice.”

(3) The department may prescribe other means to display the cannabis excise tax on an invoice, receipt, or other document from a cannabis retailer given to the purchaser.

(b) (1) A distributor in an arm’s length transaction shall collect the cannabis excise tax from the cannabis retailer on or before 90 days after the sale or transfer of cannabis or cannabis product to the cannabis retailer. A distributor in a nonarm’s length transaction shall collect the cannabis excise tax from the cannabis retailer on or before 90 days after the sale or transfer of cannabis or cannabis product to the cannabis retailer, or at the time of retail sale by the cannabis retailer, whichever is earlier. A distributor shall report and remit the cannabis excise tax to the department pursuant to Section 34015. A cannabis retailer shall be responsible for collecting the cannabis excise tax from the purchaser and remitting the cannabis excise tax to the distributor in accordance with rules and procedures established under law and any regulations adopted by the department.

(2) A distributor shall provide an invoice, receipt, or other similar document to the cannabis retailer that identifies the licensee receiving the product, the distributor from which the product originates, including the associated unique identifier, the amount of cannabis excise tax, and any other information deemed necessary by the department. The department may authorize other forms of documentation under this paragraph.

(c) The excise tax imposed by this section shall be in addition to the sales and use tax imposed by the state and local governments.

(d) Gross receipts from the sale of cannabis or cannabis products for purposes of assessing the sales and use taxes under Part 1 (commencing with Section 6001) shall include the tax levied pursuant to this section.

(e) Cannabis or cannabis products shall not be sold to a purchaser unless the excise tax required by law has been paid by the purchaser at the time of sale.

(f) The sales and use taxes imposed by Part 1 (commencing with Section 6001) shall not apply to retail sales of medicinal cannabis, medicinal cannabis concentrate, edible medicinal cannabis products, or topical cannabis as those terms are defined in Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000) of the Business and Professions Code when a qualified patient or primary caregiver for a qualified patient provides their card issued under Section 11362.71 of the Health and Safety Code and a valid government-issued identification card.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose an excise tax upon medicinal cannabis, or medicinal cannabis product, donated for no consideration to a medicinal cannabis patient pursuant to Section 26071 of the Business and Professions Code.

(h) (1) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose an excise tax upon cannabis or cannabis products designated as a trade sample pursuant to Section 26153.1 of the Business and Professions Code.

(2) A person licensed under Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000) of the Business and Professions Code that sells cannabis or cannabis products designated as a trade sample pursuant to Section 26153.1 of the Business and Professions Code shall be liable for the excise tax imposed by this section as if the person were a cannabis retailer at the time of sale.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 70, Sec. 112. (AB 141) Effective July 12, 2021. Note: Pursuant to conditions prescribed by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56, Sec. 41, this version would resume operation, by reversion, on the inoperative date of the amendment by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56. This section was added on Nov. 8, 2016, by initiative Prop. 64.

Another version listed by the Legislative Counsel

Inoperative April 1, 2023, by its own provisions. Conditionally inoperative as prescribed by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56, Sec. 41. \n\n Repealed conditionally as prescribed by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56, Sec. 41. See later operative version as amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 70.

(a) (1) Effective on and after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2023, a cannabis excise tax shall be imposed upon purchasers of cannabis or cannabis products sold in this state at the rate of 15 percent of the average market price of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer. A purchaser’s liability for the cannabis excise tax is not extinguished until the cannabis excise tax has been paid to this state except that an invoice, receipt, or other document from a cannabis retailer given to the purchaser pursuant to this subdivision is sufficient to relieve the purchaser from further liability for the tax to which the invoice, receipt, or other document refers.

(3) The department may prescribe other means to display the cannabis excise tax on an invoice, receipt, or other document from a cannabis retailer given to the purchaser.

(b) (1) A distributor in an arm’s length transaction shall collect the cannabis excise tax imposed by this section from the cannabis retailer on or before 90 days after the sale or transfer of cannabis or cannabis product to the cannabis retailer. A distributor in a nonarm’s length transaction shall collect the cannabis excise tax from the cannabis retailer on or before 90 days after the sale or transfer of cannabis or cannabis product to the cannabis retailer, or at the time of retail sale by the cannabis retailer, whichever is earlier. A distributor shall report and remit the cannabis excise tax to the department pursuant to Section 34015. A cannabis retailer shall be responsible for collecting the cannabis excise tax from the purchaser and remitting the cannabis excise tax to the distributor in accordance with rules and procedures established under law and any regulations adopted by the department.

(c) The cannabis excise tax imposed by this section shall be in addition to the sales and use tax imposed by the state and local governments.

(e) Cannabis or cannabis products shall not be sold to a purchaser unless the cannabis excise tax imposed by this section has been paid by the purchaser at the time of sale.

(f) This section shall not be construed to impose a cannabis excise tax upon medicinal cannabis, or medicinal cannabis product, donated for no consideration to a medicinal cannabis patient pursuant to Section 26071 of the Business and Professions Code.

(g) (1) This section shall not be construed to impose a cannabis excise tax upon cannabis or cannabis products designated as a trade sample pursuant to Section 26153.1 of the Business and Professions Code.

(2) A person licensed under Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000) of the Business and Professions Code that sells cannabis or cannabis products designated as a trade sample pursuant to Section 26153.1 of the Business and Professions Code shall be liable for the cannabis excise tax imposed by this section as if the person were a cannabis retailer at the time of sale.

(h) This section shall be inoperative on April 1, 2023.

History (another version listed by the Legislative Counsel)

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56, Sec. 19. (AB 195) Effective June 30, 2022. Inoperative April 1, 2023, by its own provisions. Conditionally inoperative as prescribed by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56, Sec. 41. \n\n Repealed conditionally as prescribed by Stats. 2022, Ch. 56, Sec. 41. See later operative version as amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 70. Note: This section was added on Nov. 8, 2016, by initiative Prop. 64.

Source of truth

Edition: As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=34011.
Text hash: sha256 26369128ae7d58560e86e79a8252fb1f5f6f26b4ccb2d4302b60c8c738ca8967
Composed by: compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

the Legislative Counsel lists 2 versions of this section; the version shown is the one in force by its history, the other is under "Another version listed by the Legislative Counsel" (conditional)

This section cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

Business and Professions Code

Health and Safety Code

Health & Saf. Code, § 11362.71Printed as Section 11362.71 of the Health and Safety Code

Revenue and Taxation Code

Cited by 7 provisions

Provisions in this library whose text cites Rev. & Tax. Code, § 34011. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Business and Professions Code

Revenue and Taxation Code

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.