Marijuana Business and Sec. 280e: Potential Pitfalls for Clients and Advisers

Jeffrey Gramlich & Kimberly A. Houser, Marijuana business and Section 280E: Potential pitfalls for both clients and advisers. 46 The Tax Adviser 524-533, 2015

11 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2020

See all articles by Jeffrey Gramlich

Jeffrey Gramlich

Carson College of Business

Kimberly Houser

Ostrom Workshop on Data Management and Information Governance, Indiana University; Digital Democracy Lab, William & Mary Law School

Date Written: 2015

Abstract

As of this writing, 23 states and the District of Columbia permit the sale of medical marijuana, and four states permit recreational use of the drug. However, because marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, its sale remains illegal under federal law.

Taxpayers that engage in illegal activities are allowed to deduct otherwise allowable expenses incurred in the activity in calculating taxable income unless a specific provision prohibits a deduction for the expenses.

Sec. 280E, enacted well before any states had legalized marijuana, prohibits the deduction of expenses incurred in a business of trafficking in a controlled substance; therefore, the businesses selling marijuana generally cannot deduct their expenses. However, this prohibition does not apply to deductions for costs of goods sold.

Businesses that sell marijuana and also engage in other activities that do not involve the sale of marijuana may be able to take all otherwise allowable deductions for these other activities.
It is currently unclear whether CPAs could face federal criminal prosecution for providing tax services to businesses in states where it is legal to sell marijuana and whether doing so violates state codes of conduct for CPAs.

Keywords: 280E, Marijuana Tax Law

JEL Classification: K34

Suggested Citation

Gramlich, Jeffrey and Houser, Kimberly, Marijuana Business and Sec. 280e: Potential Pitfalls for Clients and Advisers (2015). Jeffrey Gramlich & Kimberly A. Houser, Marijuana business and Section 280E: Potential pitfalls for both clients and advisers. 46 The Tax Adviser 524-533, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3539480

Jeffrey Gramlich

Carson College of Business ( email )

Wilson Rd.
College of Business
Pullman, WA 99164
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://business.wsu.edu/research-faculty/institutes/hoops-institute/

Kimberly Houser (Contact Author)

Ostrom Workshop on Data Management and Information Governance, Indiana University ( email )

Indiana University
Bloomington Indiana, IN
United States

Digital Democracy Lab, William & Mary Law School

PO Box 8795
William and Mary Law School
Williamsburg, VA 23187
United States

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