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Read. Follow. Verify.Connecticut Replaces THC-Based Cannabis Potency Tax with Flat 10.75% Retail Excise Tax
Last action · April 20, 2026: File Number 681Sponsor: Jason Rojas
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What This Bill Proposed
The General Assembly replaces the current potency-based tax on cannabis plant material, edibles, and other products with a flat 10.75% excise tax on retail gross receipts, effective October 1, 2026. Cannabis retailers, s, and s must collect the tax from consumers at the time of sale, except for palliative use sales and deliveries. The measure also adjusts the distribution of tax revenue, increasing the share allocated to the social equity and innovation account for fiscal years 2027 and 2028.
The change alters how state cannabis taxes are calculated for consumers and businesses, shifting from a milligram-per-THC formula to a percentage of retail sales while modifying allocations to state funds and resulting in a projected state revenue change of approximately $1.9 million in FY 27 and $2 million in FY 28.
- Connecticut legalized adult-use cannabis sales starting in January 2023, initially implementing a potency-based tax structure tied to total THC milligrams. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Cannabis retailers, hybrid retailers, and micro-cultivators
They are required to collect the flat 10.75% excise tax from consumers at the time of sale, file monthly electronic returns with the Department of Revenue Services, and remit payments electronically.
Consumers
They pay the flat 10.75% tax added to the original sales price at the time of purchase, except for palliative use sales and deliveries.
Department of Revenue Services
The department administers and collects the tax returns, enforces penalties for late payments, and processes electronic filings.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are medical cannabis sales subject to this retail tax?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · on the House floor.
Procedural history
12 actions- Apr 20, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyFile Number 681
- Apr 20, 2026HouseHouse Calendar Number 469
- Apr 20, 2026HouseFavorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, House
- Apr 20, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyReported Out of Legislative Commissioners' Office
- Apr 13, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyReferred to Office of Legislative Research and Office of Fiscal Analysis 04/20/26 12:00 PM
- Apr 1, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyFiled with Legislative Commissioners' Office
Show 6 earlier actions
- Mar 30, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyJoint Favorable Substitute
- Mar 5, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyPublic Hearing 03/11
- Mar 3, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyCommitteeReferred to Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding
- Mar 2, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyDrafted by Committee
- Feb 13, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyVote to Draft
- Feb 10, 2026Connecticut General AssemblyCommitteeReferred to Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift from Potency Tax to Gross Receipts Tax
The state is moving away from a THC-milligram potency tax model established in earlier cannabis legislation toward a traditional percentage-based retail excise tax.
Connected Entities
Sources
cga.ct.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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