IRS Building Cannabis Audit Teams to Boost Tax Enforcement

The IRS is stepping up enforcement of taxation of cannabis sales, including building specialized audit teams and launching partnerships with states where it is legal, an IRS representative said Tuesday.

The agency is looking to have agents that are trained in the workings and issues of the cannabis industry and can apply tax law on cannabis sales, said Daniel Lauer, director of specialty examination policy at IRS Small Business/Self Employed Division.

• Lauer, speaking during a virtual tax conference hosted by UCLA Extension, said that cash-intensive businesses have been difficult to enforce on the tax front as these businesses may ...