A cannabis company has appealed its case against the IRS at the Ninth Circuit in an effort to soften the blow of a policy that can push state-legal marijuana businesses’ tax rates to upwards of 70%.
Harborside Inc., which is based in Oakland, Calif., is challenging the government’s view of tax code Section 280E, which bars those “trafficking” in Schedule I and II substances from taking ordinary deductions afforded to other businesses. The company on Dec. 3 filed its appeal of the U.S. Tax Court’s 2018 ruling in Patients Mutual Assistance Collective Corp. v. Commissioner.
At issue ...