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South Carolina Bill Exempts DME from Sales Tax
Mar 28, 2005 9:21 AM
COLUMBIA, S.C.--South Carolina has introduced a bill to exempt Medicare- and Medicaid-reimbursed DME, prosthetics and supplies from sales tax. The bill would require the state, which taxes these products at 5 percent, to reduce sales tax by 1 percent a year over five years.
Although South Carolina taxes equipment allowables, providers "can't pass on that payment to the consumer; they have to eat [the expense]," said Bobby Horton, executive director for the South Carolina Medical Equipment Services Association, which was instrumental in getting the bill introduced. He added that all but a few states "do not tax Medicare and Medicaid sales."
A sticking point, he said, is state revenue. The bill "would reduce state revenues about a million dollars a year." But he added that because the bill has relatively broad support from the state medical association and others, the bill has a good chance at passage.
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