Colorado Pot Smokers to Get One Day Tax Break

Colorado pot smokers are going to get a one-day tax break thanks to an  unusual Colorado law.

According to the Coloradoan, taxes on recreational marijuana will be suspended for one day on September 16th. That will mean a savings of about $20 on each ounce of marijuana purchased, which is currently going for about $200 an ounce in the Denver area.

The law is fairly complicated, but essentially it has to do with tax collections exceeding projections, which, by state law, means any new taxes have to be waived and refunded. The one-day tax break will cost the state between $3 million and $4 million, depending on exactly how much pot is sold that day. That sounds like a lot of money, but the state actually took in $44 million in taxes in the first five months of the year, so it's really a drop in the bucket.

The one-day tax waiver, however, doesn't mean zero taxes on marijuana purchases.  There will still be a 2.9% sales tax on all sales.

Colorado voters will have the opportunity in November to decide if the state should keep the $58 million collected last year on recreational marijuana.