Marijuana Companies’ Tax Fights Stymied By Mail Delivery Issues

Two marijuana companies can’t challenge their tax bills because they missed the deadline after FedEx’s failed attempt to deliver their petitions, the Ninth Circuit ruled.

Organic Cannabis Foundation LLC and Northern California Small Business Assistants Inc. (NCSBA) challenged the IRS’s determination that they owed additional taxes and penalties that altogether totaled nearly $2 million. The agency had determined that Organic Cannabis and three companies owned by NCSBA were subject to tax code Section 280E, which doesn’t allow for tax deductions or credits stemming from trafficking in controlled substances.

But the companies couldn’t sue to challenge that ...