The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that it plans to begin collecting data on cannabis tax revenue generated by state governments around the country.
The federal agency tracks state tax data as part of quarterly reports it issues to provide benchmark financial indicators and inform economic research. Moving forward, it intends for those documents to include cannabis tax data, it said in a notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Friday.
“Tax collection data are used to measure economic activity for the Nation as a whole, as well as for comparison among the various states,” it said. “We plan to add the collection of cannabis and sports betting sales taxes.”
The Bureau said the new additions will “modernize the survey’s content to maintain the relevancy and sustainability of these data.”
“The information contained in this survey is the most current information available on a nationwide basis for state and local government tax collections,” it said. “The Census Bureau needs state and local tax data to publish benchmark statistics on taxes, to provide data to the Bureau of Economic Analysis for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations and other economic indicators, and to provide data for economic research and comparative studies of governmental finances.”
Read more at marijuanamoment.net