Marijuana Seller Shakes Oregon Penalties for Deducting Expenses

The owner of marijuana business won’t have to pay penalties on top of additional taxes he owed to Oregon for taking in appropriate business expense deductions because the law was unsettled at the time, the state tax court ruled.

Six changes passed into law in less than 18 months altered the result for the taxpayer twice, making it challenging for him to understand whether the deduction was available, Oregon Tax Court Judge Robert T. Manicke said in opinion issued Thursday.

“This happened because the legislature was in the difficult and extraordinary circumstance of having to react quickly to regulatory sea ...