James Lost. Did the 24% Wholesale Tax Come Off Your Jar?

James lost on Tuesday. Michigan's 24% wholesale cannabis tax is still on the transfer into the shop.

Benson beat him, and Democrats took the House back with a wider Senate majority, MJBizDaily and The Detroit News reported. The tax that started January 1 is still on flower moving to a retailer.

By Jamie, grower at Divine Toke. Divine Toke is Sun+Earth Certified.

Did the November 3 election take the 24% off your jar? #

No. The vote changed who won. The 24% is still charged when flower moves to a retailer.

MJBizDaily on November 5 reported that Jocelyn Benson beat John James. The same story said voters handed the Legislature to Democrats. The Detroit News on November 4 reported that Democrats took the House back and widened their Senate majority.

A new majority can pass a bill later. Tuesday's count didn't amend MCL 205.905. That's the section with the 24%.

James had the industry endorsement, and he had pledged to repeal or sharply reduce this tax. The quotes and the pledge are in the September write-up. He lost. The section stayed on the books.

The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association had backed him. MJBizDaily, citing Crain's Detroit Business, said the group met with Benson just before election day. Robin Schneider, the group's director, said she is confident Benson will carefully review the tax. Crain's, in that same report, called Benson ambivalent. She hasn't said she'll cut it, and she hasn't said she'll defend it.

Schneider said she expects Benson to review it with care. Thursday's transfer into the shop is still taxed.

What still hits the jar at the counter? #

The same three charges. The 24% hits the sale to the retailer. The counter still adds a 10% excise and a 6% sales tax.

Treasury's tax-liability FAQ says the wholesale tax applies in addition to those two, at a different step. The 10% and the 6% land when you pay. The 24% lands on the deal between the wholesaler and the shop.

MCL 333.27963 is the 10% on adult-use sales. MCL 205.52 is the 6% sales tax on a retail sale of goods. How those two stack on a sticker is already in the Q2 receipt piece. The shelf average is in the ounce piece.

Charge	Where it hits	Who files it
24% wholesale	The sale to the retailer	The wholesaler
10% excise	Adult-use checkout	The retailer
6% sales tax	Checkout, with the sale	The retailer

What that means with the jar in your hand:

• If the shop passed the wholesale cost along, it's already inside the sticker.
• The lines you can point at on the ticket are the 10% and the 6%.
• Medical stock is a different row. Treasury says the 24% doesn't apply to wholesale sales of medical marijuana. The exception is a dual-license shop moving that stock onto the adult-use shelf.

Who owes the 24% on that transfer? #

The wholesaler owes it, and the wholesaler sends it to Treasury. The cost can still sit in what the shop paid for the flower.

MCL 205.905 levies 24% of the wholesale price in three spots. RAB 2026-3 is Treasury's bulletin on it, approved March 17, 2026 and updated March 24. The bulletin says the wholesaler can put the tax on the shop's invoice and still has to pay the state.

The three spots in the section:

• A grower or processor sells to a retailer. The seller owes 24% of the wholesale price.
• A shop grows and packs its own flower for the shelf. That shop owes 24% when the pack is ready to sell.
• A provisioning center moves flower to an adult-use retailer. The center owes 24%.

The charge started January 1, 2026. The act is 2025 PA 23. The statute's history line says the act took effect October 7, 2025. That's when the law existed. The 24% itself starts with transfers on and after January 1.

Treasury's FAQ says the shopper isn't the person who files this return. The wholesaler is. A grower-to-processor sale, before anyone is selling it at retail, isn't this tax. The first sale to a retailer is.

Have the lawsuits taken the tax off? #

No. The state is still collecting it. MJBizDaily on November 5 said several lawsuits have so far failed to defeat the tax.

The two cases, and what each one argued, are in the May explainer. Thursday, the transfer is still taxed. The budget row below is the state booking the money.

A lawsuit can stay open and still leave the charge in place. That's the shape MJBizDaily described. The 24% didn't come off the jar because a complaint got filed.

Would House Bill 6440 pause the 24%? #

It would turn the 24% off for one year. When that year ended, the tax would come back. The bill hasn't passed.

Call it a one-year pause. A repeal would take the section off the books. This text leaves the 24% in the section and blocks it for a year. And it isn't law while it sits in committee.

The introduced text amends section 5 of the road-funding tax act. The new subsection says the tax isn't charged from the day the change takes effect until one year later. The 24% in the first subsection is the tax that returns when the year is over.

The Legislature's bill page shows Rep. Jay DeBoyer of District 63 introduced it on October 28, 2026. The same day, the House referred it to the Committee on Appropriations. The page shows the introduction, the referral, and an electronic copy. It doesn't show a House vote.

MJBizDaily on October 30 walked the same bill. The pause would run one year from the effective date. After that, the 24% comes back unless lawmakers pass something else. Both chambers have to pass it. Then a governor has to sign it.

Appropriations has the folder. The counter didn't pause while the folder sits there.

What still has to happen before a jar would feel it:

• The House would have to pass it.
• The Senate would have to pass it.
• A governor would have to sign it.
• The one-year clock would start on the effective date, not on October 28.

Flower already on a shelf this week was transferred under the tax that's in force. A bill in a committee doesn't rewind that.

Was the wholesale tax on the November 3 ballot? #

No. The statewide ballot had two proposals, and cannabis wasn't either of them. Detroit's sample ballot didn't add a cannabis question.

The Bureau of Elections file is the two statewide sheets. The July 24, 2026 sheet is Proposal 2026-1, a constitutional convention. The August 17, 2026 sheet is Proposal 2026-2, on campaign money. Cannabis isn't on either sheet. The longer read is what was on the November ballot.

Detroit printed a sample ballot in the city's fall 2026 election newsletter. It's the Wayne County, City of Detroit ballot for November 3. The proposal block has:

• Proposal 2026-1, the constitutional convention
• Proposal 2026-2, the campaign-money law
• A Wayne County zoo millage renewal
• A Southeast Michigan Public Museum Authority millage
• A Detroit schools millage

Cannabis isn't in that block. A city question also couldn't rewrite MCL 205.905. That section is a state statute.

How much has the state already collected? #

Through June, the state booked $73.4 million in this wholesale tax. The May forecast on the same row was $315 million for the fiscal year.

The State Budget Office report for the month ended July 31, 2026 lists Wholesale Marihuana Tax. The sheet counts in thousands. Read the row this way:

• The October-through-June column reads 73,404. That's $73.404 million, the figure people round to $73.4 million.
• The June column reads 37,377. That's $37.377 million. The Q2 piece already walks that print.
• The May 2026 forecast on the row reads 315,000. That's $315 million.

MJBizDaily on October 30 set the $73.4 million next to a $210 million pace for six months. That pace is $105 million a quarter, and $73.4 million is about 35% of it. MJBizDaily on November 5 repeated the $73.4 million through June.

Election night didn't zero the row. The cash was already booked, and Thursday's transfer is still in the same tax.

FAQ #

Can Benson cancel the 24% without a new bill? #

No. The 24% is in a statute, and winning the race didn't amend it. MCL 205.905 is still the charge. House Bill 6440 is the pause text, and it's still in House Appropriations. She can ask lawmakers for a bill. The section doesn't erase itself because the election changed who won.

When did Michigan's 24% wholesale tax start? #

The charge started January 1, 2026. MCL 205.905 says "beginning January 1, 2026." The history line on that section says 2025 PA 23 took effect October 7, 2025. RAB 2026-3 uses the same January 1 start for adult-use transfers.

What had John James said he would do? #

He pledged to repeal or sharply reduce the 24%. That pledge, and the September 16 endorsement from the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, are in the September write-up. MJBizDaily on November 5 reported that he lost to Benson. A pledge from a candidate who lost doesn't amend the statute.

If House Bill 6440 passed, when would the pause start? #

The year would start on the effective date of the change. The bill text says the tax isn't charged from that date until one year later. Introduction day was October 28, 2026. That's the day it was referred to Appropriations, per the bill page. It isn't the start of a pause.

Would that one-year block leave the tax off for good? #

No. When the year ended, the 24% would be back. The first subsection of the introduced text still levies 24% on those transfers. The new subsection only blocks that levy for a year. MJBizDaily on October 30 said the tax would then resume unless lawmakers passed something else.

Is $73.4 million what they forecast for the whole year? #

No. $73.4 million is what the July report shows through June. The same State Budget Office row shows a May 2026 forecast of $315 million for the fiscal year. MJBizDaily compared the June year-to-date figure with a $210 million pace for six months.

Where does the $37.38 million fit? #

It's the June column on that same wholesale-tax row, rounded. The July report reads 37,377 in thousands, which is $37.377 million. The year-to-date figure next to that column is $73.404 million. The Q2 piece is the walk-through of that June print.

Who sends the 24% to Treasury? #

The wholesaler does. Treasury's FAQ says the establishment that makes the first sale to a retailer pays the tax and remits it. The shopper isn't the filer. RAB 2026-3 says that seller can still collect the amount from the shop on the invoice.

Does this 24% sit on adult-use flower going to a retailer? #

Yes. Treasury's bulletin and FAQ are about adult-use transfers to a retailer. RAB 2026-3 says the tax is on adult-use marijuana, separate from the 10% retail excise. The FAQ says wholesale sales of medical marijuana aren't in this tax, except a dual-license move from medical stock into adult-use stock.

Can a Detroit ballot question cancel this state tax? #

Detroit's sample ballot didn't have a cannabis question, and a city line wouldn't amend the state section anyway. The city's fall 2026 newsletter prints the Detroit sample ballot. Cannabis isn't among the proposals. MCL 205.905 is a state statute. The statewide sheets are in the ballot piece.

The jar from us #

I grow sun-grown flower in Michigan, and Divine Toke sells it by mail.

The 24% is a state charge on a licensed transfer to a retailer. It's the state's rule, upstream of the sticker. If you're curious to try the flower, the shop has jars, 1g pre-rolls, and the 20-pack, which is 20 one-gram joints for $120.

The receipt math is in the Q2 piece. The pledge James ran on is in the September piece. The two statewide questions are in the ballot piece. The origin of the 24% is in the May explainer.

If that pause ever passes, the year starts on the day the change takes effect, and the 24% is written to come back when the year ends.