The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can’t do anything on its own to resolve the unique financial challenges that marijuana businesses face as a result of federal prohibition—but the agency wants to make clear that it’s here to support cannabis firms with tax compliance nonetheless. De Lon Harris, commissioner of examination at the IRS Small Business/Self Employed (SB/SE) Division, spoke about tax-related issues in state-legal marijuana markets in a webinar published on Wednesday by PBC Conference. He said that while cannabis remains federally illegal, businesses that deal in controlled substances must still file federal taxes, and IRS is here to help. “It’s really our mission at the IRS—not just with marijuana and cannabis industries, but with all taxpayers—to promote voluntary compliance,” Harris said. “When most people think of the IRS, they think of examinations or audits and they think that’s the only way that we interact or try to promote voluntary compliance with taxpayers, but we do our fair share of outreach and education as well.” To be sure, Harris also provided tips for marijuana businesses on tax compliance in a blog post published in September.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 12/08/2021 10:31:00