Short version: adult-use cannabis in Pekin carries two separate taxes, not one. There is a state excise tax of 10%, 20%, or 25% depending on what you buy, and on top of that a 14.5% combined sales tax. Stack them and you are looking at roughly 24% to 40% over the shelf price. That is the entire reason the number on the menu and the number at the register never match.
Nobody enjoys a surprise at the counter. So here is the Illinois cannabis tax picture in plain English — what each tax actually is, why a gummy is taxed differently than a pre-roll, and what a $50 order really costs at 359 Court St.
Illinois cannabis tax comes in two pieces
Illinois does not have one cannabis tax. It has a cannabis-specific excise tax, and then ordinary sales tax on top, with two cannabis-only local add-ons baked into that sales tax rate:
- Cannabis Purchaser Excise Tax — a state tax on you, the buyer, that we collect and remit. The rate depends entirely on what kind of product it is.
- Retailers’ Occupation Tax — regular sales tax. The state’s 6.25%, plus local rates, plus a municipal and a county cannabis tax that only apply to cannabis.
State law requires each of these to show up as its own line, separate from the price of the product. That is a good thing: it means you can read a receipt and see exactly where every dollar went. The full rate rules live on the Illinois Department of Revenue cannabis tax page.
Piece one: the excise tax is 10%, 20%, or 25%
This is the one that trips people up, because it is set by product category and THC level rather than by price.
| What you are buying | Excise rate |
|---|---|
| Cannabis at or below 35% adjusted THC — most flower and pre-rolls | 10% |
| Cannabis-infused products — edibles, drinks, tinctures, topicals | 20% |
| Cannabis above 35% adjusted THC — most concentrates and vape carts | 25% |
Two things surprise almost everyone. First, edibles get taxed at 20% no matter how mild they are — a 2.5 mg drink and a 100 mg package of gummies sit in the same bracket. Second, vape carts and concentrates are not treated as “infused products” under the state’s rules. The Department of Revenue taxes them by THC level instead, which in practice means most of them land at 25% rather than 20%.
“Adjusted THC” is its own bit of math — the state adds delta-9 THC to 0.877 times the THCA on the lab result. If you have ever wondered why that percentage on the package matters beyond potency, this is why. Our guide to reading an Illinois cannabis label walks through where to find that number.
Piece two: sales tax in Pekin is 14.5%
The second half of the Illinois cannabis tax bill is location-specific, and it is entirely public record. Here is the current breakdown for Pekin in Tazewell County, straight from the state’s MyTax Illinois Tax Rate Finder:
| Component | Rate |
|---|---|
| State tax | 6.250% |
| County Cannabis Tax (Tazewell County) | 3.000% |
| Municipal Cannabis Tax (City of Pekin) | 3.000% |
| Home rule tax | 1.750% |
| County public safety | 0.500% |
| Total on adult-use cannabis | 14.500% |
Look at the middle two lines. Six full points of that rate exist only because the product is cannabis, and both stay right here — three points to the City of Pekin, three points to Tazewell County. When somebody asks whether shopping local actually keeps money local, that is about as literal an answer as you will get.
What a $50 order really costs
Same $50 pre-tax subtotal, three different products:
| Category | Excise | Sales tax | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flower or pre-rolls (10%) | $5.00 | $7.25 | $62.25 |
| Edibles or drinks (20%) | $10.00 | $7.25 | $67.25 |
| Concentrates or vapes (25%) | $12.50 | $7.25 | $69.75 |
Put another way, the Illinois cannabis tax on that order works out to an effective 24.5%, 34.5%, and 39.5% respectively. It is a real spread, and it is worth knowing about before you build your cart — not because you should buy flower instead of a cart if you want a cart, but because “same price on the menu” does not mean “same price at the register.”
Medical cardholders pay a fraction of that
Registered medical patients do not pay the Cannabis Purchaser Excise Tax at all, and their sales tax rate is 1% — the same rate Illinois applies to other qualifying drugs. That same $50 order comes to $50.50.
For a regular shopper that gap is roughly $12 to $19 on every $50 spent, which is the single largest Illinois cannabis tax difference in the whole system, and it adds up quickly. If you have a qualifying condition, our page on the Illinois medical cannabis card covers what the process looks like. For the legal side of Illinois cannabis rules, Cannabis Industry Lawyer goes deeper than we do here.
Three honest ways to bring your total down
We cannot make the Illinois cannabis tax disappear, and we are not going to pretend we can tax-engineer your order. But three things genuinely help:
- Points are earned before tax — and redeemed as real dollars off. Pekin’s Local Rewards gives you 8 points per $1 on the pre-tax subtotal, and every 1,000 points is $5 off. It is free to join, and there are up to 1,000 bonus points waiting when you sign up.
- Shop the deals, not the tax bracket. Discounts come off before tax is calculated, so a dollar saved on the shelf price saves you the tax on that dollar too. This week’s are on our deals page.
- Ask at the counter. Veterans, seniors, and birthdays — just ask. We will sort it out at the register.
Reading the tax lines on your receipt
Next time you are handed one, look for the excise line and the sales tax line as separate entries under the subtotal. If the subtotal matches what you saw on the online menu, everything below it is Illinois cannabis tax doing exactly what the statute says it should. Menu prices at Illinois dispensaries are shown pre-tax, which is the single biggest reason for register sticker shock. Worth a look too: what you can bring to pay with, on our payment options rundown.
Illinois cannabis tax: questions we actually get
Why is my dispensary total higher than the menu price?
Because Illinois menu prices are listed before tax, and the Illinois cannabis tax comes in two parts rather than one. In Pekin that means a 10%, 20%, or 25% state excise tax depending on the product, plus 14.5% sales tax.
How much is the cannabis tax in Pekin, Illinois?
Sales tax on adult-use cannabis in Pekin is 14.5%, which includes a 3% City of Pekin cannabis tax and a 3% Tazewell County cannabis tax. On top of that sits the state excise tax of 10% to 25% by product type.
Are edibles taxed more than flower in Illinois?
Yes. Cannabis-infused products such as edibles and drinks are taxed at a 20% excise rate, while flower and pre-rolls at or below 35% adjusted THC are taxed at 10%. Concentrates and vapes are generally taxed at 25%.
Do medical cannabis patients pay the same tax?
No. Registered patients are exempt from the Cannabis Purchaser Excise Tax and pay a 1% sales tax rate rather than 14.5%.
Come see us
We are on the square at 359 Court St, Pekin, IL 61554, open every day, 10 AM to 9 PM. Call us at (309) 444-6108 or browse the menu and order ahead. Not a chain, not a franchise — just your neighbors on Court Street.
Must be 21+ with a valid government-issued ID. Tax rates are current as of September 2026 and can change; the Illinois Department of Revenue is always the authority. Keep out of reach of children.