22dan420
04-26-2011, 11:05 PM
The IRS has opened an audit of a Denver Medical Marijuana Dispensary (http://www.marijuanadispensaries411.com), the newest action in what one observer calls a "guerrilla campaign" by the federal government to bump back against the weed industry.
The audit is believed to be the first of its kind in Colorado and follows audits of countless medical-marijuana clinic in California and other states.
Investigators are examining whether it was unlawful for the collectives which are against the law companies under Fed. law to take business costs from their federal taxes, said Jim Marty, a Denver accountant who represents the Colorado clinic.
Marty declined to name the dispensary or say where it is found. Marty related the collective was informed of the audit earlier in the month.
"So far," he revealed, "the IRS has been pretty co-operative. The client had good records."
Marty said he expects the IRS to look broadly at dispensaries in CO. If that is so that would mirror what the agency has done in California, where tax attorney Henry Wykowski recounted the IRS has undertaken at least 30 audits of dispensaries.
The audits are also part of a bigger series of events in which the government appears to be more actively saying itself in state-legal marijuana companies.
In recent months, U.S. Lawyers in Washington state and California have sent letters to state officials there warning them that efforts to regulate medical-cannabis businesses won't change the Fed government's disapproval of those companies.
In one letter, U.S. Attorneys in Washington warn Gov. Christine Gregoire that state staff who control the companies "would not be immune to liability."
In addition to the IRS audits, the central government has declared its authority by raiding medical-marijuana dispensaries. Last month, Fed. agents served 26 criminal search warrants in Montana in a drug-trafficking enquiry that focused on dispensaries. The agents allege the dispensaries were also engaged in other illegal activities.
Because Fed. law enforcement resources are so limited, Robert Mikos, a Vanderbilt School law professor who has studied medical-marijuana laws, recounted the government has been forced to select carefully in how it targets medicinal cannabis, conducting more of a "guerrilla campaign" than a frontal attack.
Colorado Solicitor General John Suthers believes the latest crackdown should be a warning to Colorado medical-marijuana providers and state legislators alike.
But to this point the current IRS audit aside Colorado saw relatively tiny Fed enforcement against cannabis firms, in spite of having the most well-codified medical-marijuana regulatory system in the nation. Dan Hartman, who oversees medical-marijuana industry regulation in Colorado, said state officers have met regularly with Fed authorities to keep them up to date with the state's evolving regulations. Which has included providing limited, public info about dispensaries if the Fed agents request it.
Hartman claimed Fed. officials, in the meetings, have remained firm that they see medical-marijuana businesses as illegal.
But Hartman thinks the dialogue has helped stop public blowups. "We started out at the beginning to make certain we've got a transparent business."
Still, Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the nation's Organization for the Reform of Pot Laws, told an audience at his group's yearly convention in Denver last week that contemporary events are a reminder the medicinal marijuana industry remains a perilous business.
"One cannot whistle by the graveyard when it comes to medical cannabis," he revealed
Read more : IRS opens audit of Denver medical-marijuana dispensary - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com / stories / pot / ci_17927752ixzz1KfUZo0x5
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content : http://www.denverpost.com / termsofuse
The audit is believed to be the first of its kind in Colorado and follows audits of countless medical-marijuana clinic in California and other states.
Investigators are examining whether it was unlawful for the collectives which are against the law companies under Fed. law to take business costs from their federal taxes, said Jim Marty, a Denver accountant who represents the Colorado clinic.
Marty declined to name the dispensary or say where it is found. Marty related the collective was informed of the audit earlier in the month.
"So far," he revealed, "the IRS has been pretty co-operative. The client had good records."
Marty said he expects the IRS to look broadly at dispensaries in CO. If that is so that would mirror what the agency has done in California, where tax attorney Henry Wykowski recounted the IRS has undertaken at least 30 audits of dispensaries.
The audits are also part of a bigger series of events in which the government appears to be more actively saying itself in state-legal marijuana companies.
In recent months, U.S. Lawyers in Washington state and California have sent letters to state officials there warning them that efforts to regulate medical-cannabis businesses won't change the Fed government's disapproval of those companies.
In one letter, U.S. Attorneys in Washington warn Gov. Christine Gregoire that state staff who control the companies "would not be immune to liability."
In addition to the IRS audits, the central government has declared its authority by raiding medical-marijuana dispensaries. Last month, Fed. agents served 26 criminal search warrants in Montana in a drug-trafficking enquiry that focused on dispensaries. The agents allege the dispensaries were also engaged in other illegal activities.
Because Fed. law enforcement resources are so limited, Robert Mikos, a Vanderbilt School law professor who has studied medical-marijuana laws, recounted the government has been forced to select carefully in how it targets medicinal cannabis, conducting more of a "guerrilla campaign" than a frontal attack.
Colorado Solicitor General John Suthers believes the latest crackdown should be a warning to Colorado medical-marijuana providers and state legislators alike.
But to this point the current IRS audit aside Colorado saw relatively tiny Fed enforcement against cannabis firms, in spite of having the most well-codified medical-marijuana regulatory system in the nation. Dan Hartman, who oversees medical-marijuana industry regulation in Colorado, said state officers have met regularly with Fed authorities to keep them up to date with the state's evolving regulations. Which has included providing limited, public info about dispensaries if the Fed agents request it.
Hartman claimed Fed. officials, in the meetings, have remained firm that they see medical-marijuana businesses as illegal.
But Hartman thinks the dialogue has helped stop public blowups. "We started out at the beginning to make certain we've got a transparent business."
Still, Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the nation's Organization for the Reform of Pot Laws, told an audience at his group's yearly convention in Denver last week that contemporary events are a reminder the medicinal marijuana industry remains a perilous business.
"One cannot whistle by the graveyard when it comes to medical cannabis," he revealed
Read more : IRS opens audit of Denver medical-marijuana dispensary - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com / stories / pot / ci_17927752ixzz1KfUZo0x5
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content : http://www.denverpost.com / termsofuse