The state of Florida provides several sales & use tax exemptions for medical purchases made by hospitals and health care facilities. One exemption that provides an opportunity for sales & use tax savings applies to purchases that are required to be issued under a physician’s prescription and are only used for one patient. This is often referred to as the prescription-required single-use exemption for hospitals, surgical centers or other healthcare establishments.

Fla. Admin. Code Ann. 12A-1.020(6)[c](1) states that, “medical products, supplies, or devices sold to hospitals, healthcare entities, or licensed practitioners are exempt when the medical product, supply, or device must be dispensed under federal or state law only by the prescription or order of a licensed practitioner; and the medical product, supply, or device is intended for use on a single patient and is not intended to be reusable.” Additionally, “medical trays and surgical or procedure kits containing medical products, supplies, or devices that are labeled to be dispensed only by the prescription or order of a licensed practitioner and are intended for use on a single patient are exempt, even when the medical tray or kit contains one or more items that, when sold separately, would be subject to tax.”

In practice, the most effective way to determine if a medical purchases qualifies for this exemption is to review the product label for the item. The FDA requires medical device product labels to contain symbols and statements that assures the devices are used safely and effectively. The most frequently used symbol to indicate that a device is prescription required appears as “R_X Only.” While this is a common symbol, the product label can also contain the following statement to indicate that a device is prescription required, “Caution: Federal law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician, dentist, or other licensed practitioner.” The symbol used to indicate that a device is intended for use on a single patient appears as the number 2 circled attached to this post. Similar to the prescription requirement, the product label can contain the following statements in lieu of the symbol, “For single patient use only” or “Do not reuse, this is a single use device.” If the product label does not contain the relevant information, then the IFU (Instructions for Use) that comes with most medical purchases can also contain these symbols and indications.

Generally, vendors making sales of these types of items are still charging tax to their customers. The vendor does not need to charge sales tax on purchases of medical devices that are prescription required and single-use only if the purchaser provides them with a Florida Exemption Certificate. The suggested format for this exemption certificate is available under Fla. Admin. Code Ann. 12A-1.020(11). If sales tax has already been paid, collected, and remitted on the purchase of medical purchases that are prescription required and single-use only in Florida, the purchaser can apply for a refund from the Florida Department of Revenue.

As with all Sales & Use Tax research, the specifics of each case need to be considered when determining taxability. If you have questions, comments or would like to discuss the specific circumstances you are encountering in regard to this issue or any other Sales & Use Tax issue, please contact us at (888) 350-4TAX (4829) or via email at info@salesandusetax.com.

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