(a) Effective January 1, 2018, there is hereby imposed a cultivation tax on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market upon all cultivators. The tax shall be due after the cannabis is harvested and enters the commercial market.

1. (1) The tax for cannabis flowers shall be nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per dry-weight ounce.
2. (2) The tax for cannabis leaves shall be set at two dollars and seventy-five cents ($2.75) per dry-weight ounce.

(h) Cultivators shall be responsible for payment of the tax pursuant to regulations adopted by the department. A cultivator’s liability for the tax is not extinguished until the tax has been paid to this state except that an invoice, receipt, or other document from a distributor or manufacturer given to the cultivator pursuant to paragraph (3) is sufficient to relieve the cultivator from further liability for the tax to which the invoice, receipt, or other document refers. Cannabis shall not be sold unless the tax has been paid as provided in this part.

1. (1) A distributor shall collect the cultivation tax from a cultivator on all harvested cannabis that enters the commercial market. This paragraph shall not apply where a cultivator is not required to send, and does not send, the harvested cannabis to a distributor.

2. (2)

   1. (A) A manufacturer shall collect the cultivation tax from a cultivator on the first sale or transfer of unprocessed cannabis by a cultivator to a manufacturer. The manufacturer shall remit the cultivation tax collected on the cannabis product sold or transferred to a distributor for quality assurance, inspection, and testing, as described in Section 26110 of the Business and Professions Code. This paragraph shall not apply where a distributor collects the cultivation tax from a cultivator pursuant to paragraph (1).
   2. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the department may prescribe a substitute method and manner for collection and remittance of the cultivation tax under this paragraph, including a method and manner for collection of the cultivation tax by a distributor.
3. (3) A distributor or manufacturer shall provide to the cultivator, and a distributor that collects the cultivation tax from a manufacturer pursuant to paragraph (2) shall provide to the manufacturer, an invoice, receipt, or other similar document that identifies the licensee receiving the product, the cultivator from which the product originates, including the associated unique identifier, the amount of cultivation tax, and any other information deemed necessary by the department. The department may authorize other forms of documentation under this paragraph.
4. (4) The department may adopt regulations prescribing procedures for the refund of cultivation tax collected on cannabis or cannabis product that fails quality assurance, inspection, and testing as described in Section 26110 of the Business and Professions Code.

(k)

1. (1) For the 2020 calendar year, the rates set forth in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) shall be adjusted by the department for inflation.
2. (2) For the 2021 calendar year, the rates shall be those imposed for the 2020 calendar year in paragraph (1) and shall not be adjusted for inflation unless the adjustment is for an inflation rate that is less than zero.
3. (3) For the 2022 calendar year, the rates shall be those imposed for the 2021 calendar year in paragraph (2) and shall be adjusted by the department for inflation.
4. (4) Beginning January 1, 2023, the rates imposed for the previous calendar year shall be adjusted by the department annually for inflation.