Odd

I’m the last one to say this is a silly topic, because it is not. But you have to admit is sounds a little funny. Bizarrely–and there’s much in our tax law that’s downright bizarre–there’s actually a need for this kind of, er, down and dirty tax planning session. And someone should bring the Cheetos.

 

Perhaps Harvard’s Board of Trustees will get wind of it and get upset. But the ire should be directed at tax rules that need fixing. Now that we have legalized medical marijuana in 18 states and the District of Columbia can these businesses be run like businesses? Not really. Massachusetts was the most recent entrant, and its marijuana businesses, like those in all the other states, face legal and tax problems. 

 

For that matter, Colorado and Washington have even legalized recreational use. Again, tax problems there too. Why? Because even legal dispensaries are drug traffickers to the feds. Section 280E of the tax code denies them tax deductions, even for legitimate business costs. Of all the federal enforcement efforts, taxes hurt most. “The federal tax situation is the biggest threat to businesses and could push the entire industry underground,” the leading trade publication for the marijuana industry reports.

 

One answer is for dispensaries to deduct other expenses distinct from dispensing marijuana. If a dispensary sells marijuana and is in the separate business of care-giving, the care-giving expenses are deductible. If only 10% of the premises are used to dispense marijuana, most of the rent is deductible. Good record-keeping is essential. See Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Persist Despite Tax Obstacles.

 

Another idea was presented April 24 at Harvard by Professor Benjamin Leff of American University’s Law School. Professor Leff’s paper carried an unvarnished title: Tax Planning for Marijuana Dealers. It was part of Harvard’s Tax Policy Seminar hosted by Harvard Prof. Stephen Shay. Mr. Leff correctly pointed out the 280E Catch 22 and came up with another end run. 

 

Marijuana sellers could operate as nonprofit social welfare organizations, he suggested. See Growing the Business: How Legal Marijuana Sellers Can Beat a Draconian Tax. That way Section 280E shouldn’t apply. A social welfare organization must promote the common good and general welfare of people in its neighborhood or community. Operating businesses in distressed neighborhoods to provide jobs and job-training for residents? That could fit a dispensary nicely.

 

Read more: http://www.forbes.com

More possible fallout from this weekend's 4/20 festivities: An employee at the faux-shabby Joe's Crab Shack found three garbage bags filled with marijuana in a dumpster behind the seafood chain's Fisherman's Wharf location.

 

According to SFPD, the bags contained "maybe 50 pounds" of unwanted kind bud. The investigation is still underway, so police don't have any additional information on where the weed might have come from or if it could possibly have any connection to the nationwide seafood chain.

 

A quick search of the location's Yelp page produced 24 reviews claiming the service was "a bit slow," "definitely super slow" and "so slow it almost move backward in time." But all that is probably unrelated to the huge stash found in the dumpster.

 

Read more: http://sfist.com

A drug dealer has been jailed after police caught him with 19 wraps of drugs tied to his penis. Alan Mutch was targeted after police received reports of a man peddling drugs in Canterbury, Kent, on January 14. When they pulled the 45-year-old over to search him they discovered 19 wraps of cannabis in his underpants.

 

The wraps, which weighed more than an ounce, had been tied to his genitals using an elastic band. Jim Harvey, prosecuting, told Canterbury Crown Court this week that Mutch was hauled over at 9.40am by officers. ‘It was then they saw the defendant walking down the hill and decided to conduct a search under the Misuse Of Drugs Act,’ he said.

 

‘Suffice it to say that 19 wraps were then found somewhere on his person.’

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

On last night's "Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert expressed outrage that support of legalizing marijuana now is held by a majority of citizens, according to a new Pew poll.

 

The news comes as a majority of Americans also support same-sex marriage for the first time, a trend that raises Colbert's eyebrows. "Oh, I can't help who I am! I was born being attracted to watching 7 hours of 'Planet Earth' while eating a bag of croutons!" he mockingly quipped.

 

He continued: "Next thing you know, stoners are going to demand the right to marry their Mary Jane."

 

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Scratch and sniff marijuana cards are being offered by Crimestoppers in a campaign to raise awareness of marijuana farms. The cards are being mailed to 201,000 UK residents.

 

The cards, which release the odor of marijuana, are part of a campaign to reduce the number farms illegally growing marijuana in the UK. Residents recognizing the scent are asked to report the odor to their local authorities.

 

As reported by BBC, West Yorkshire, in particular, has seen a recent rise in marijuana farms. In a two year period between 2010 and 2012, authorities found nearly 1,800 marijuana farms in the area. Those numbers include residential homes or apartments where residents were growing plants.

 

Crimestoppers hope that the scratch and sniff marijuana cards will help UK residents who would not normally recognize the odor. They point out that larger commercial operations are declining as residents move their operations to residential neighborhoods.

 

Read more: http://www.inquisitr.com

The Copenhagen Post’s news editor, Justin Cremer, who explains that city officials in the capital of Denmark are anxious to legalize marijuana there and import supplies from Washington, Colorado or both.

 

“If we get the three-year trial, it will be important to work as quickly and effectively as possible, so we are looking abroad for where we could import cannabis,” Deputy Mayor for Social Affairs Mikkel Warming told the Post. “Yes, we are looking at Colorado and Washington, but we’re also looking at places like Great Britain, where there is state-controlled production of marijuana for medical purposes.

 

“The US states of Colorado and Washington recently legalized marijuana for recreational use, so it makes sense to learn from their experiences and to explore the possibility of importing from them.”

 

The city wants to import marijuana in order to do a runaround on the black market there.

 

Read more: http://blog.seattlepi.com