PDFWAC 314-55-090

Medical cannabis patient excise tax exemption.

(1) Pursuant to RCW 69.50.535(2), the excise tax levied in RCW 69.50.535(1) does not apply to sales of cannabis that satisfy all the following conditions:
(a) The sale is made by a cannabis retailer holding a valid medical cannabis endorsement issued pursuant to RCW 69.50.375 and compliant with WAC 314-55-080;
(b) The sale is made to a qualifying patient or designated provider who has a valid recognition card issued pursuant to RCW 69.51A.230, and is in the database;
(c) The sale is of cannabis concentrates, useable cannabis, or cannabis-infused products identified by the department as a compliant cannabis product in chapter 246-70 WAC and tested to the standards in chapter 246-70 WAC;
(2) Cannabis licensees must retain the following information for five years, consistent with WAC 314-55-087, for every sale where the excise tax is exempted per RCW 69.50.535(2):
(a) Date of sale;
(b) From the recognition card:
(i) The unique patient identifier; and
(ii) The effective date and expiration date of the recognition card;
(c) Stock keeping unit (SKU) or unique product identifier of cannabis concentrates, useable cannabis, or cannabis-infused products identified by the department as a compliant cannabis product in chapter 246-70 WAC and tested to the standards in chapter 246-70 WAC;
(d) Sales price of cannabis concentrates, useable cannabis, or cannabis-infused products identified by the department as a compliant cannabis product in chapter 246-70 WAC and tested to the standards in chapter 246-70 WAC.
(3) For any sale where the excise tax was not collected, if a cannabis licensee cannot produce the documentation identified in subsection (2) of this section when requested by the LCB, such excise tax shall be presumed to have been incorrectly exempted, and the retailer shall be responsible for remitting to the LCB the amount of excise tax that should have been collected. Penalties may apply to any incorrectly exempted excise tax payments that need to be remitted as described in this subsection, consistent with WAC 314-55-092.
(4) Definitions.
(a) "Database" means the medical cannabis authorization database as defined in RCW 69.51A.010.
(b) "Department" means the Washington state department of health.
(c) "Designated provider" has the same meaning provided in RCW 69.51A.010.
(d) "Qualifying patient" has the same meaning provided in RCW 69.51A.010.
(e) "Recognition card" has the same meaning provided in RCW 69.51A.010.
(f) "Unique patient identifier" refers to the randomly generated and unique identifying number described in RCW 69.51A.230.
(g) "Unique product identifier" refers to the unique identifier provided to the LCB consistent with the traceability requirements in WAC 314-55-083.
(5) Requirements in this section comply with the confidentiality and exemption provisions for personally identifiable information of qualifying patients and designated providers included in the medical cannabis authorization database as described in RCW 69.51A.230.
(6) The excise tax exemption described in this section is effective until June 30, 2029, pursuant to RCW 69.50.535(2).
[Statutory Authority: RCW 69.50.342, 69.50.345, and 69.50.535. WSR 24-19-040, s 314-55-090, filed 9/11/24, effective 10/12/24.]