Michigan Cannabis Tax Watch This Month

August 21, 202614 min read0 comments

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As of August 2026, Michigan still collects a 24% wholesale cannabis tax on adult-use product, plus the 10% retail excise tax and 6% sales tax you see at checkout. That stack is live this month — repeal bills have not passed, and Detroit shoppers should plan around the current receipt, not a hoped-for cut.

This is a consumer tax watch, not a budget hearing. I grow sun-grown organic flower for Divine Toke in the Detroit orbit. I read Lansing the same way I read a frost date: what actually changed, and what still hits the jar. This article is general information. It is not tax advice or legal advice.

What Should Michigan Cannabis Consumers Know About Taxes This Month? #

The short August 2026 answer: the 24% wholesale tax is still being collected, it still does not print as its own line on most receipts, and it still sits on top of the voter-passed 10% excise tax and the state's 6% sales tax. Repeal talk is real. A repeal is not on the books.

Here is the month in one pass — read it as if you are standing at a licensed Detroit counter:

Watch item (as of August 2026)	What it means for you	Source
24% wholesale tax still live	Growers and processors pay it when adult-use product first moves to a shop. The cost can land in the shelf price.	Michigan Treasury wholesale tax page
10% + 6% still on the ticket	Those two still print at checkout on adult-use sales.	MCL 333.27963; Revenue Administrative Bulletin 2026-3
No new city cannabis millage	Detroit does not add a local weed millage on the receipt.	MCL 333.27956
July flower still cheap	Adult-use flower averaged $58.95 an ounce in July even with the wholesale tax in force.	CRA July 2026 monthly report
Repeal bills stuck	Senate Bill 810 and House Bill 6224 would kill the wholesale tax. Neither has passed.
Q2 road-tax receipts	Second-quarter payments were due July 20. Treasury told MLive the receipt data should come in August. As of this writing, I have not seen a published Q2 total.

If you only remember three things from this watch:

Adult-use cannabis is still legal in licensed Michigan shops for adults 21 and older.
The tax fight is in Lansing and in court — not over.
A low Detroit menu is not proof the tax went away. Oversupply can hide a tax the same way a hoop house hides a cold night.

For the longer origin story of the 24% layer, see our Michigan 24% wholesale cannabis tax explainer. For last month's broader policy wrap, see the July 2026 policy roundup.

What Taxes Hit a Michigan Dispensary Receipt Right Now? #

On an adult-use purchase, you are carrying three state tax layers: a 24% wholesale tax baked into the shelf price, a 10% retail excise tax, and 6% sales tax. Medical product sits on a thinner stack. That split matters if you have a card and if the shop can sell you medical inventory.

The Michigan Department of Treasury collects the wholesale layer. The Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) licenses the shops. They are not the same office.

Tax	Rate	Who the law names	When it hits	On your receipt?
Wholesale excise	24% of wholesale price	Grower, processor, microbusiness, or provisioning center making the first adult-use transfer	When product first moves to a retailer, or when a microbusiness packages it for retail	No — usually inside the sticker
MRTMA retail excise	10% of the sales price	The establishment on the adult-use sale	At checkout	Yes
State sales tax	6%	The retailer, on most tangible goods	At checkout	Yes

That 24% rate is not a rumor. It is section 5 of the Comprehensive Road Funding Tax Act — MCL 205.905. The 10% rate is the tax Michigan voters set in 2018 under the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA), MCL 333.27963. RAB 2026-3 says the wholesale tax applies in addition to those other taxes.

A simple Detroit ticket — numbers rounded so you can see the shape, not so you can audit a shop:

Line	Adult-use eighth with a $32 shelf price
Shelf price (wholesale tax already inside)	$32.00
10% excise	$3.20
6% sales tax	$1.92
You pay	$37.12

The 24% piece is the quiet one. You do not see "road tax" on most tickets. You feel it only if the shop raised the sticker — or if the grower ate it and a small farm closed.

What "wholesale" means in plain English #

Wholesale is the first sale from the farm or processor to the store. It is the loading-dock price, not the jar in your hand. RAB 2026-3 says a grower-to-processor move is not the taxable event. The tax waits until that product first goes to a retail licensee.

If a company grows and sells under one roof — a microbusiness — the tax still applies. The state treats the moment the product is packaged for retail as the wholesale event, per MCL 205.905(b).

Does the 24% Wholesale Tax Show Up on My Receipt? #

No. The 24% wholesale tax is a business-to-business tax. It is not a third line next to excise and sales tax. You still see the 10% and the 6%. The road tax is already in the number on the shelf.

Treasury's taxpayer notice and RAB 2026-3 both say the wholesaler is the person who must pay and remit. The wholesaler may pass that cost to the shop. The wholesaler stays on the hook even if the shop never pays the invoice. There is no "bad debt" break in the act.

That is why two honest shops on the same Detroit block can look different this month:

One shop bought a lot of flower before January 1, 2026, and is still working through older lots.
One shop is buying taxed lots now and either raising the sticker or cutting its own margin.
One vertically integrated company uses Treasury's average wholesale price list instead of the invoice price.

For July 1 through September 30, 2026, Treasury's affiliated-party flower benchmark is $641.41 per pound — published on the Q3 2026 average wholesale price list. That is a tax worksheet number. It is not a promise of what your eighth costs on Grand River.

A receipt checklist you can actually use #

When you check out this month, look for:

The shelf price (already includes any passed-through wholesale tax)
A 10% excise line on adult-use
A 6% sales tax line
Whether the sale is rung as adult-use or medical — the tax stack is not the same

If a clerk says "the 24% is extra at the register," ask to see it. State guidance does not treat the wholesale tax as a third checkout levy on you.

Why Haven't Prices Jumped If the Tax Is Live? #

Because Michigan is still drowning in legal flower. A 24% wholesale tax can raise a grower's cost and still lose a price fight with too many pounds on too many shelves.

The CRA's July 2026 monthly statistical report is the newest full official month we have as of this watch:

Adult-use sales in July: about $270.5 million
Adult-use flower: about $109.9 million
Average adult-use flower price: $58.95 per ounce
Wayne County adult-use sales: about $30.6 million
East and Southeast Michigan adult-use sales: about $101.4 million
Active adult-use retailer licenses: 836

June was even a hair cheaper on flower. CRA-based figures compiled by The Marijuana Herald put June adult-use flower at $58.18 an ounce, down from $59.73 in May, with June adult-use sales about $252.8 million.

MLive's July 24, 2026 tax story added the half-year trend: in the first six months of 2026 versus 2025, flower retail prices were down about 1.5%, flower volume was down about 1.2%, and adult-use sales revenue was down about 5.3%. Vape volume was up about 12.4%. That is not a market that just doubled your eighth overnight.

Month (2026)	Adult-use sales (CRA)	Avg. adult-use flower / oz
January	About $226.4 million (Metro Times)	Tax just started; old lots still on shelves
June	$252.8 million (Marijuana Herald / CRA)	$58.18
July	$270.5 million (CRA July report)	$58.95

So why did lawmakers talk like this tax would mint $420 million a year for roads? The nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of House Bill 4951 used about $420.7 million a year and also warned that a full pass-through could cut consumption by about 14.4%. Early cash has lagged that story. MLive reported first-quarter wholesale collections around $34 million, well behind a $105-million-a-quarter pace.

MJBizDaily has described the same squeeze from the operator side: the tax sits on transfers into retail, on top of the 10% and the 6%, in a market that was already tired.

What that means on a Detroit Friday:

Your menu can stay low while a small grower still feels the tax.
A sale eighth is not a tax holiday. It is often a shop clearing weight.
If a shop closes, the tax did not act alone. Oversupply was here first. The tax made a thin margin thinner.

We mapped that weaker market before the tax year in Michigan cannabis 2026: industry status. The August watch is simpler: cheap flower and a live wholesale tax can exist in the same month.

Do Detroit or Other Cities Add a Local Cannabis Millage? #

No. Michigan cities do not add a cannabis millage — a local property-tax-style rate — onto your dispensary receipt. What locals can do is allow shops, ban shops, cap how many open, charge an annual admin fee, and collect a share of the state's 10% excise leftover.

That is the part people mix up, so here it is in farm English.

A millage in Michigan is usually a property-tax rate. It is how a city or county funds streets, libraries, or schools. It is not a third weed tax printed under your pre-roll.

MRTMA section 6 — MCL 333.27956 is the local toolbox. A city may:

Completely prohibit adult-use establishments, or limit how many can open
Set time, place, and manner rules that are not "unreasonably impracticable"
Require a municipal license
Charge an annual fee of not more than $5,000 to cover application, admin, and enforcement costs

That $5,000 is a shop fee. It is not a 3% city cannabis tax on your jar. The CRA municipal guide walks cities through the same section.

What cities do get is a cut of leftover 10% excise money after the CRA is funded. MCL 333.27964 splits that leftover this way:

15% to municipalities that host a retailer or microbusiness
15% to counties that host a retailer or microbusiness
35% to the School Aid Fund
35% to the Michigan Transportation Fund for roads and bridges

In March 2026, the state sent the fiscal-year 2025 round. The CRA / LARA press release said each eligible city, county, or tribe got $54,017.10 per licensed retail store or microbusiness. MLive reported Detroit as the top city, with 61 licenses and about $3.30 million. The per-store check fell from about $58,229 the year before.

Local question	August 2026 answer
Does Detroit add a cannabis millage at checkout?	No
Can Detroit charge shops a yearly admin fee?	Yes, up to $5,000 under MCL 333.27956
Does Detroit get 10% excise revenue?	Yes, a per-store share of the leftover fund
Does a suburb that banned shops get that share?	No — no hosted retailer, no municipal slice
Does the 24% wholesale tax go to Detroit City Hall?	No — it goes to state road funds under MCL 205.913

If your township opted out, you still pay the same state stack when you drive into Detroit or Hamtramck. You just shop somewhere that said yes.

Is Medical Cannabis Taxed the Same as Adult-Use? #

No. Medical cannabis is exempt from the 10% MRTMA excise tax, and the 24% wholesale tax is an adult-use tax. A registered patient can still owe regular sales tax. A card is not a free-jar coupon.

MCL 333.27963(4) says the 10% tax does not apply to transfers under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act or the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act. RAB 2026-3 is written for adult-use wholesale transfers. Treasury's taxpayer notice describes the 24% as a tax on adult-use wholesale sales.

Layer	Adult-use (21+)	Licensed medical
24% wholesale road tax	Yes, on the first retail-bound transfer	Not the adult-use wholesale event
10% MRTMA excise	Yes	Exempt
6% sales tax	Yes	Usually still yes
Who can buy	Adults 21+	Registered patients / caregivers

The CRA July 2026 report shows how small the medical counter is now: about $311,700 in medical sales for the whole month, versus about $270.5 million adult-use. Medical flower averaged $78.86 an ounce — higher than the adult-use average of $58.95. A card can skip some tax layers and still not be the cheapest eighth on the board.

The Detroit News reported before the tax hit that some Metro Detroit operators expected lapsed patients to renew cards because the wholesale tax does not apply to medical. That is a business guess, not a promise that medical will stay cheaper after rent, testing, and a thinner menu.

Do not buy a card only as a tax dodge without reading the medical rules. Do not ask a budtender to "ring it medical" if you are not a patient. That is not a loophole. That is a license problem.

Could the 24% Tax Be Repealed This Year? #

It could, on paper. As of August 2026, it has not been. Two repeal bills exist. Both are still in committee. Lawsuits are still open. Collection continues.

I am only naming bills I can point to on the Michigan Legislature site. I will not invent a third bill number.

The two repeal bills on the docket #

Bill	Lead sponsor	Introduced	Official action	What it would do
Senate Bill 810	Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, with Irwin, Bumstead, Hauck, Bellino, Runestad, Bayer, and Santana	Feb 26, 2026	Referred to Senate Government Operations the same day	Repeal 2025 PA 23 — the whole wholesale-tax act
House Bill 6224	Rep. James DeSana	July 29, 2026 (reproduced Aug 11)	Referred to House Appropriations	Same repeal, one sentence

Detroit Metro Times put the politics in one line: do not hold your breath. The Senate bill sat for months without a hearing. The House bill had no co-sponsor when that story ran.

A late-August legal roundup from Dentons still listed HB 6224 as sitting in Appropriations. That is process. That is not a signed repeal.

Why repeal is hard: the tax was sold as road money. The Senate Fiscal Agency put about $420.7 million a year on the table. MLive reported early collections far under that pace — and also reported that nobody has a painless replacement for the road fund. Killing a tax is easy to tweet. Replacing a road dollar is not.

The lawsuits, without courtroom fan fiction #

Industry groups went to court before the tax even started. The Detroit News reported that Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel declined to block the tax in December 2025. The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association appealed. A later suit, covered by MJBizDaily, argues the wholesale tax acts like a sales tax stacked on the 6% cap.

As of this August watch I have not found a final opinion that kills the tax. Until a court or the Legislature says otherwise, Treasury is still collecting.

What Does 280E Have to Do With the Price of My Jar? #

Section 280E is a federal income-tax rule on cannabis businesses. It is not a Michigan checkout tax. It can still raise the cost of running a Detroit shop. That cost can leak into the shelf price. It will not show up as "280E" next to the 6%.

The U.S. Treasury and IRS explained the core rule on April 23, 2026: Internal Revenue Code section 280E generally blocks deductions and credits for a business that traffics in Schedule I or II controlled substances. If a business, because of the Justice Department's medical-marijuana order, no longer traffics in Schedule I or II substances, 280E generally stops being the bar on those covered activities.

Hold that in two hands:

Covered medical activity is in a different federal lane after the April 28, 2026 Federal Register order. Treasury says guidance is still coming on how mixed medical/adult-use shops split expenses.
Adult-use flower — the jar most Divine Toke readers buy — is not a finished federal rewrite. Broader marijuana rescheduling is still if/when. Track that lane on the DEA rescheduling page and in our DEA aftermath briefing for August 2026.

Federal tax rumor	August 2026 consumer reality
"280E disappeared, so my eighth gets cheaper this month."	No automatic checkout cut. 280E is a business return issue.
"Schedule III means adult-use shops deduct rent like a bakery."	Not for adult-use as a class. That is still if/when broader rescheduling or later IRS rules say so.
"Michigan's 24% tax is 280E."	False. The 24% is a state wholesale excise under MCL 205.905.

If you want the longer 280E explainer, we already wrote 280E tax, cannabis, explained. The August point is narrower: do not wait for a federal form to erase the 10% and 6% on tonight's ticket.

Where Does the Cannabis Tax Money Go? #

It depends which tax you mean. The 10% excise leftover is split among schools, roads, and host cities and counties. The 24% wholesale tax is a road-funding tax. They are not the same pot of money.

The 10% — the tax voters wrote #

After CRA costs, leftover MRTMA money follows MCL 333.27964:

15% to host cities, villages, and townships
15% to host counties
35% to K-12 through the School Aid Fund
35% to the Michigan Transportation Fund

That is why Detroit can get a multi-million-dollar check in March and you can still see a 10% line in August. The city check is last year's leftover. Your receipt is this week's sale.

MLive reported that in 2025 Michigan collected nearly $190 million in sales tax on about $3.2 billion in marijuana sales, and kept about $220 million of the $313 million generated by the 10% excise, with the rest going to counties, cities, and tribes.

The 24% — the tax the Legislature added for roads #

MCL 205.913 sends almost all wholesale-tax dollars to the neighborhood road fund, after a small deposit to the comprehensive road funding fund ($3 million in fiscal year 2025-26, then $500,000 a year, later adjusted for inflation). Treasury says the same thing in fewer words: the 24% is for infrastructure.

So if someone tells you the new tax "funds cannabis equity," that is the wrong envelope. The 24% was sold as potholes.

What Should Shoppers Watch for the Rest of August? #

Watch published numbers, not group chats. The useful August list is short, boring, and official.

Q2 wholesale-tax receipts. MLive said Treasury expected to release them in August. If they land, compare them to the $34 million first-quarter figure and to the $420.7 million yearly sketch from the Senate Fiscal Agency. One quarter does not make a year. A second weak quarter would be a real data point.
Committee noise on SB 810 and HB 6224. A hearing is news. A press conference is not a repeal.
Court orders that actually stop collection. Until then, Treasury is still running the tax.
CRA monthly reports. The statistical-report page is where ounce prices and sales live. July's adult-use flower average was $58.95. If August's report jumps hard, that is a consumer story. If it sits still, oversupply is still the louder voice.
Q3 tax worksheets for shops. Affiliated companies are using the July–September average wholesale list. Flower on that list is $641.41 a pound. That can change how a vertically integrated shop books the tax. It does not reset every Detroit menu overnight.
Federal if/when news. Adult-use rescheduling is not a done deal. Read the Schedule III guide before you spend a rumor.

What I would not do with this month's tax news #

I would not leave the legal market for a cheaper basement bag because a road tax exists. Untested product is a different risk.
I would not assume a $20 eighth means the state cut the tax.
I would not treat a medical card as a stealth adult-use discount without being a real patient.
I would not plan my grocery budget on SB 810 passing next week.

If you want sun-grown organic flower from a farm that will tell you the truth about price and tax, start at our shop. We will not pretend a jar rewrites Lansing.

FAQ: Michigan Cannabis Taxes This Month #

What taxes do I pay on legal weed in Michigan in August 2026? #

Adult-use buyers still face a 24% wholesale tax inside the shelf price, plus 10% excise and 6% sales tax at the register. The wholesale layer is in MCL 205.905. The 10% is in MCL 333.27963. RAB 2026-3 says they stack.

Does the 24% wholesale marijuana tax appear on my receipt? #

No. You usually see only the 10% excise and 6% sales tax. The 24% is paid by the wholesaler and may be passed to the shop, per Treasury's taxpayer notice.

Why is Detroit flower still around $59 an ounce if taxes went up? #

Because the legal market is still oversupplied, and many shops are competing on price. The CRA July 2026 report put adult-use flower at $58.95 an ounce. MLive found first-half 2026 flower prices down about 1.5% from 2025.

Did Michigan add a local cannabis millage in Detroit? #

No. Detroit does not add a cannabis millage on the ticket. Cities may charge shops up to $5,000 a year and share leftover 10% excise money under MCL 333.27956 and MCL 333.27964. MLive reported Detroit's FY2025 city share at about $3.30 million.

Is medical marijuana exempt from the 24% wholesale tax? #

The 24% law is an adult-use wholesale tax; medical retail under MMMA/MMFLA is not the event RAB 2026-3 is built to tax. Medical sales are also exempt from the 10% MRTMA excise under MCL 333.27963(4). Sales tax can still apply. A card is not a hobby discount.

Are lawmakers repealing the 24% tax right now? #

They have introduced repeal bills. They have not passed them. SB 810 has sat in Senate Government Operations since February 26, 2026. HB 6224 went to House Appropriations after July 29, 2026. Metro Times says momentum is thin.

How much wholesale tax has the state collected so far? #

About $34 million in the first quarter, according to MLive. That lagged the Senate Fiscal Agency's roughly $420.7 million yearly sketch. Q2 payments were due July 20. I am not going to invent an unpublished Q2 total.

Does 280E change what I pay at a Michigan dispensary this month? #

Not as a line item. Treasury and the IRS are working through medical-marijuana 280E relief. Adult-use federal scheduling is still if/when. See our 280E explainer and the Schedule 3 guide.

Where does the 24% wholesale tax go? #

Almost all of it goes to neighborhood road funding, not to cannabis programs. That path is in MCL 205.913 and on the Treasury wholesale tax page.

Who gets Michigan's 10% cannabis excise money? #

After agency costs, leftover 10% money is split 15% host cities, 15% host counties, 35% schools, and 35% the Michigan Transportation Fund, per MCL 333.27964. The March 2026 CRA/LARA release paid $54,017.10 per qualifying store for FY2025.

Can a township that banned dispensaries still tax my cannabis? #

It cannot add a local cannabis checkout tax, and it does not get the municipal 15% share if it hosts no retailer. You still pay the state stack when you buy in a city that allows shops. Opt-out power lives in MCL 333.27956.

Will federal rescheduling wipe Michigan cannabis taxes? #

No. State excise and sales taxes are Michigan law. If/when broader federal rescheduling finishes, it may change federal business rules such as 280E. It does not automatically repeal MRTMA or CRFTA. Our August DEA aftermath piece stays on that split.

Bottom Line for Michigan Shoppers #

As of August 2026, the tax on a legal Michigan adult-use jar is still a three-layer stack: 24% wholesale in the sticker, 10% excise on the ticket, 6% sales tax on the ticket. Detroit did not add a cannabis millage. Medical is taxed less at the state cannabis layer, not at every layer. Repeal bills exist and have not become law. 280E is a federal business problem, not a new line at the register.

I live with both truths at once. The legal market is still cheap by U.S. standards. Small farms and independent shops are still tired. A low price can be a gift to a working customer and a warning light for the farm that grew the flower.

At Divine Toke — a sun-grown organic cannabis farm rooted in Detroit, Michigan — we will keep telling you which tax is real and which rumor is just a rumor. If you are curious to try sun-grown organic flower from a shop that does not hide the receipt, start here:

Legal / tax disclaimer: This article is general information for educational purposes only. It is not tax advice and not legal advice. Rates, bills, court cases, and IRS guidance can move. Talk to a Michigan tax professional or attorney about your facts.

Wellness disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting any new wellness routine.

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Michigan Cannabis Tax Watch: What Consumers Should Know This Month