Cannabis payroll isn't just payroll. Under §280E, how your payroll costs are categorized — plant-touching versus non-plant-touching — has a direct impact on your federal income tax liability. Payroll for plant-touching employees can be allocated to COGS; payroll for non-plant-touching employees cannot be deducted at all. A general payroll provider doesn't know the difference. 420Ledger handles cannabis payroll compliance with 280E-aware cost allocation built in from the first payroll run.
Every payroll client gets complete federal and state compliance — plus the 280E-aware allocation that connects payroll to your tax position.
941/944 filings, federal income tax withholding, Social Security, Medicare, and FUTA — filed accurately and on schedule. No penalties for missed deposits or late filings.
State income tax withholding and state unemployment insurance across all 27 states we cover. Multi-state payroll for MSOs handled at the entity level.
We categorize payroll costs between plant-touching and non-plant-touching activities for every employee — and document the allocation methodology. This directly supports your COGS position under §280E.
Annual W-2s for all employees and 1099-NEC for independent contractors. Prepared accurately and filed with the IRS and state agencies on the required schedule.
Plant-touching vs. non-plant-touching designation for every worker, maintained with role documentation that supports your annual 280E return. We don't just run payroll — we classify it correctly.
Your payroll data flows directly into your monthly bookkeeping. Payroll costs are coded to the correct accounts in your 280E-structured chart of accounts every pay period — not reconstructed at year end.
Whether you have 3 budtenders or 300 farm workers, cannabis payroll needs 280E-aware treatment from the first paycheck.
Dispensary budtenders and inventory managers perform plant-touching work. Their wages are allocable to COGS. We document this correctly so you capture the 280E benefit.
Cultivation labor is core COGS for a cannabis farm. We build the payroll allocation that supports your cultivation COGS under §280E.
Production floor wages in a processing facility are plant-touching. We classify and allocate correctly across production and non-production staff.
Multi-state payroll means multi-state withholding, multi-state unemployment, and multi-state worker compensation requirements. We handle all of it.
Cannabis payroll has a direct connection to your 280E tax position that non-cannabis payroll doesn't. Under IRC §280E, payroll costs for plant-touching employees cannot be deducted as ordinary business expenses. However, they can be allocated to Cost of Goods Sold — which §280E does not disallow — if the employee's work is directly tied to production, processing, or inventory management. How you categorize each employee's payroll costs has a measurable impact on your federal income tax liability. A general payroll provider doesn't know this. 420Ledger handles cannabis payroll with 280E-aware allocation built in.
Under §280E, wages for employees who perform plant-touching work — cultivation, processing, inventory management, dispensary floor staff handling cannabis — can be allocated to COGS. This allocation reduces your 280E taxable income. Wages for non-plant-touching employees — management, marketing, administrative staff — cannot be deducted at all under 280E. Correct categorization of every employee's role, documented and maintained consistently, is one of the most defensible ways to maximize your COGS position under 280E.
Yes. We handle federal and state payroll tax compliance for W-2 employees and prepare 1099-NEC filings for independent contractors. Cannabis businesses frequently use contractors for security, compliance, and specialized labor. Contractor vs. employee classification in a cannabis business has both IRS and state labor implications — we ensure the correct treatment for each worker type.
Cannabis dispensary employees are subject to the same federal payroll taxes as employees in any other industry: federal income tax withholding, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%), and FUTA (federal unemployment). At the state level, state income tax withholding and state unemployment insurance apply according to each state's rates. Cannabis businesses do not receive any payroll tax exemption for operating in the cannabis industry.
Misclassifying payroll between plant-touching and non-plant-touching activities creates two problems. If you misclassify plant-touching employees as non-plant-touching, you are overpaying federal income taxes — missing COGS allocations that would have reduced your 280E burden. If you misclassify non-plant-touching employees as plant-touching to inflate COGS, you are creating audit exposure for an unsupported deduction. 420Ledger documents each employee's classification with role descriptions and allocation percentages that are maintained consistently and defensible under IRS scrutiny.
All tiers include federal and state payroll compliance, 280E-aware allocation, and W-2/1099 preparation. Pricing scales with employee count and entity complexity.
Single-location dispensary. Federal and state payroll compliance, 280E-aware allocation, W-2 and 1099 prep.
Multi-location operators. Per-entity payroll, multi-state compliance, and classification documentation across all locations.
MSOs with payroll in multiple states. Full payroll management integrated with entity-level bookkeeping and 280E tracking.
Every payroll run is either helping or hurting your 280E position. Book a free consultation and we'll review how your current payroll setup affects your tax liability.
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