Illinoisans awoke to a brand new industry on New Year’s Day, with legal recreational marijuana sales coming online Jan. 1. Lines were long. Enthusiasts celebrated. Dispensaries cleared more than $10 million in sales in the first week.
Illinois Policy reports that at the same time, images of customers’ receipts were spreading across social media.
“Wait, taxes are how much?”
Even in Illinois, which financial forecasting service Kiplinger dubbed the least tax-friendly state in the nation, weed buyers had sticker shock.
Of the 10 states with legal recreational marijuana regimes, Illinois is home to the second-highest tax burden on retail sales, according to a review of state and local statutes. In Chicago, customers will pay up to 41.25% in taxes on some marijuana products, after factoring in a soon-to-be-passed Cook County excise tax. That total doesn’t even include a 7% state wholesale tax further up the supply chain, which will be passed down to consumers through higher prices.