A marijuana grower in Alaska faces a felony charge for allegedly not paying nearly $700,000 in state excise tax.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that the Fairbanks company, Alaskan Blooms, was charged with one count of failure to collect the tax by the Alaska Department of Law.
According to the criminal complaint, the company owes $698,953.77 in excise tax for the period between September 2019 and November 2020.
Alaskan Blooms reportedly set up a payment plan with the state revenue department in September 2019 while incurring additional interest and penalties for late payments.
In Alaska, growers are taxed $800 per pound of mature flower regardless of what they can sell it for.
“The business suffered a crop failure in 2020, as well as a balloon payment on a loan. The business decided to pay other bills with the money that should have been collected and paid to the state for taxes,” according to the complaint.
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Regulators suspended Alaskan Blooms’ cultivation license in November. The company’s retail store in Fairbanks remains open for business.
MJBizDaily reached out to the company’s attorney who did not respond to a request for a statement.
