If you've looked at a dispensary receipt in New York and tried to reverse-engineer the tax, you've probably landed on the same question everyone does: what is the 13%, and is anything else hiding underneath it? The short answer is that adult-use cannabis carries one tax — a 13% excise — and it's simpler than most retail tax you deal with. Here's the whole thing, broken down on a sample receipt, so the math is never a mystery.

What is the 13% cannabis tax in New York?

New York applies a 13% excise tax to adult-use (recreational) cannabis sold at licensed dispensaries. That 13% is actually two separate excise taxes added together: a 9% state cannabis excise and a 4% local cannabis excise. The state piece goes to New York State; the local piece is split between the county and the city or town where the sale happens. Together they make the flat 13% you see on the receipt.

The key thing to understand is that both pieces are charged on the same retail price, not on top of each other. The 4% isn't applied to a number that already includes the 9%. They're parallel percentages of the pre-tax subtotal, so you can just add 9 and 4 and treat it as a single 13%.

How does the tax look on a sample receipt?

Take a single round number to make the math obvious. Say your pre-tax subtotal comes to $50.00. Here's how the 13% breaks down:

• Subtotal: $50.00 — the pre-tax price of what's in your bag.
• State cannabis excise (9%): $4.50 — 9% of $50.
• Local cannabis excise (4%): $2.00 — 4% of $50.
• Total tax: $6.50 — the two excise pieces added together (13% of $50).
• Total: $56.50 — what you actually pay.

The same ratio holds at any price. A $25 subtotal carries $3.25 in tax ($2.25 state + $1.00 local) for $28.25. A $100 subtotal carries $13.00 in tax for $113.00. Once you know it's a flat 13%, you can estimate any total in your head: take the pre-tax price, add about an eighth, and you're close.

Is there sales tax on cannabis too?

No — and this is the part that surprises people. In most New York retail you'd expect a general sales tax (in New York City that's 8.875%) on top of the price. Adult-use cannabis is exempt from that regular sales tax. The 13% cannabis excise stands in its place, so it's the only tax on the receipt. There's no second tax line stacked underneath it.

That's why the cannabis math is actually cleaner than buying, say, electronics in the city: one flat excise, fully disclosed, and nothing else added at checkout. If a receipt shows both a cannabis excise and a general sales tax line on the cannabis products, that's worth a second look.

Does the medical program pay the same tax?

No. Medical cannabis is exempt from the 13% adult-use excise tax. New York runs a separate medical cannabis program alongside the adult-use market, and products bought through it by registered patients aren't subject to this excise. That different tax treatment is one of the practical reasons some people choose to register as a medical patient — though that's a decision between a person and a registered practitioner, not something sorted out at a retail counter.

For everyone shopping adult-use — any adult 21+ with a valid ID — the 13% applies. No card, no exemption, just the flat excise built into the cost of the purchase.

Why is my total the same as the menu price at Holy Buds?

Because the tax is already in the number. Many dispensaries display a pre-tax menu price and add the 13% at checkout, so your total comes out higher than what you saw on the menu. Holy Buds does it the other way around: the 13% is built into the menu price, so the figure you see is your final, all-in total. Nothing gets tacked on at checkout.

It's the same tax either way — New York's 13% doesn't change shop to shop, since the 9% state and 4% local rates are set by law. The only difference is whether a dispensary shows it before or after it's added. Building it in just means there's no surprise at the door and no mental math to do while you're paying. You can browse the live menu and the prices you see are the prices you pay.

Where does the cannabis tax money go?

The revenue New York collects from cannabis taxes flows into a state Cannabis Revenue Fund, and after the program's own regulatory and administrative costs are covered, the law directs the remainder to three purposes:

1. 40% to education — supporting public schools through the state's lottery education fund.
2. 40% to community reinvestment — grants aimed at communities most affected by past cannabis prohibition and enforcement.
3. 20% to public health — drug treatment, education, and prevention programs.

So the 4% local share stays close to home, funding the county and the city or town where you bought, and the 9% state share is split across those three statewide priorities. It's a useful bit of context for what that line on your receipt is actually doing.

The 13% tax, in one glance

• 13% total on adult-use cannabis = 9% state excise + 4% local excise.
• Flat, not compounding — both are a percent of the same pre-tax price, so they just add to 13%.
• No regular sales tax on top — the excise replaces it; it's the only tax on the receipt.
• Medical cannabis is exempt from this excise; adult-use purchases always include it.
• At Holy Buds it's built into the menu price — the number you see is the number you pay.

That's the entire tax story. Holy Buds is a licensed adult-use cannabis delivery service for Long Island, serving Nassau & Suffolk County (NY OCM-RETL-24-XXXXXX), and everything on the menu comes through New York's regulated, lab-tested supply chain. Browse the live menu — tax included — and have a 21+ ID ready when your order arrives.