Cannabis Tax Calculator
Excise and sales tax from state rates and product type.
About this calculator
Cannabis retail carries a tax stack unlike almost any other consumer product, and this calculator adds up four separate layers against the same retail revenue base: a state excise tax, standard state sales tax, local/municipal cannabis tax, and an optional weight-based cultivation tax charged per ounce of dried flower regardless of price. The first three are straightforward percentages of gross revenue (retail price times units sold); the cultivation tax instead multiplies total product weight (units times the ounces-per-unit you enter, defaulting to an eighth at 0.125 oz) by a flat per-ounce rate, since cultivation taxes are levied on weight rather than dollar value in states that use them.
Effective Tax Rate expresses the combined burden as a share of gross revenue, and Consumer Price Per Unit adds the average per-unit tax back onto the entered retail price to show what a customer actually pays at the register. One simplification worth knowing: real-world excise taxes are often assessed on wholesale price rather than the retail price used throughout this model, and exact tax stacking varies enormously by jurisdiction — Colorado runs around 29% effective combined, California can reach 35-45%, and Oregon sits near 20% — so use the default rates as a starting point and swap in your actual state and local rates for an accurate result.
Inputs
Results
Total tax
$1,295.00
≈ 10 pairs of sneakers
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter retail price per unit and number of units sold.
- Set excise tax rate (%), state sales tax (%), and local/city tax (%).
- Enter cultivation tax per oz and product weight per unit if applicable.
- Review Total Tax, Effective Tax Rate (%), and Consumer Price Per Unit including all taxes.
How the result changes with Retail price per unit ($)
| Retail price per unit ($) | Total tax |
|---|---|
| 25 | $647.50 |
| 38 | $984.20 |
| 75 | $1,942.50 |
| 125 | $3,237.50 |
What each input means
- Retail price per unit ($)
- Pre-tax retail price per unit sold (e.g., per eighth, cartridge, or edible package).
- Units sold
- Number of units in this calculation (e.g., monthly sales volume).
- Excise tax rate (%)
- State excise tax rate on cannabis (CO: 15%, CA: 15%, WA: 37%).
- State sales tax (%)
- Standard state sales tax rate.
- Local/city tax (%)
- Municipal or county cannabis-specific tax.
- Cultivation tax ($/oz)
- Weight-based cultivation tax per ounce of dried flower (if applicable).
- Weight per unit (oz)
- Weight of product per unit in ounces (1/8 oz = 0.125).
What each result means
- Total tax
- Combined tax across all categories.
- Effective tax rate (%)
- Total tax as a percentage of gross revenue.
- Excise tax
- State excise tax amount.
- State sales tax
- State sales tax amount.
- Local tax
- Municipal/county tax amount.
- Cultivation tax
- Weight-based cultivation tax.
- Tax per unit
- Average tax burden per unit sold.
- Consumer price per unit
- Final price to consumer including all taxes.
- Gross revenue
- Total pre-tax revenue.
- Net after tax
- Revenue remaining after all taxes.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersRetail price per unit ($) = 50, Units sold = 100, Excise tax rate (%) = 15, State sales tax (%) = 2.9 = 7 input(s) provided
- Calculate Total taxTotal tax = exciseTax + stateSalesTax + localTax + cultivationTax1295 = $1,295
- Calculate Effective tax rate25.9 = 25.9
- Calculate Excise taxExcise tax = grossRevenue * (exciseTaxPct / 100)750 = $750
Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the cultivation tax calculated differently from the other three taxes?
Excise, state sales, and local tax are each a straight percentage of gross revenue (retail price times units sold). Cultivation tax instead multiplies total product weight — units sold times your entered ounces-per-unit — by a flat dollar rate per ounce, because states that levy a cultivation tax charge it on weight of dried flower rather than on sale price, independent of how the product is eventually priced at retail.
Why might my real excise tax bill differ from what this calculator shows?
The calculator applies the excise tax rate to retail price throughout, but many states actually assess excise tax on wholesale price instead. If your jurisdiction taxes wholesale value, the dollar amount you actually owe will differ from this retail-based estimate even if you enter the correct percentage rate.
What does Consumer Price Per Unit represent that Retail Price doesn't?
Retail Price Per Unit is the pre-tax price you enter. Consumer Price Per Unit adds the average per-unit tax burden (total tax divided by units sold) back on top of that entered price, showing what a customer actually pays at the register once excise, sales, local, and any cultivation tax are folded in.
Why default Weight Per Unit to 0.125 oz?
0.125 ounces is a standard eighth, one of the most common single-purchase quantities sold at dispensaries. It only matters when Cultivation Tax ($/oz) is nonzero, since that's the one tax computed from total product weight (units sold times weight per unit) rather than from dollar price — for other product formats like edibles or cartridges, adjust this figure to match actual package weight.
Is Effective Tax Rate just the four tax percentages added together?
Not quite. The excise, sales, and local rates you enter are percentages of gross revenue and would sum directly, but the cultivation tax is weight-based rather than percentage-based, so its dollar contribution depends on your weight-per-unit input. Effective Tax Rate is calculated by dividing the resulting Total Tax dollar amount by Gross Revenue, which correctly folds in that weight-based component alongside the three percentage-based ones.
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