Medical Equipment Tax Benefits

Lee Joseph asked:




If you are a medical practitioner or a medical center such as a clinic, diagnostics centre or a hospital; you will probably know that how hard it can be to keep up with the new advances in medical technology. It’s very essential to have state of the art medical equipment, so that many new diseases and medical conditions can be diagnosed. Especially with the new breakthroughs in genetics and medical sciences, new equipment is introduced everyday for diagnosing illnesses and also for treating them. Of course, some equipment like IV Pumps are never out of style and they can be used in any medical institution for years and years until they are worn out. So whether you opt for some new equipment that has just come out or if you are looking for classic equipment that needs to be replaced; chances are you will be faced with buying new medical equipment every year.

However, many medical practices face the problem of too little cash and too much investment that needs to be done. Sometimes it might seem financially feasible to just buy or lease the equipment next year, as this year the business and the cash flow might have been slow. Well, there are several tax benefits of buying medical equipment before the end of the year; which will make purchasing the medical equipment more efficient.

Tax benefits of buying medical equipment before the end of the year starts first with the depreciation of the equipment. This is perhaps the simplest form of tax benefits for buying medical equipment, as this benefit has been around for decades. Every time you buy any equipment before the end of the year; you can depreciate its value up to %50 on some medical equipment. Depreciation in essence means that you are able lower the value of your equipment by its usage and the number of years that it has been used. In essence, this means that you have bought something new and it has lost is value with usage and years. Therefore, you are able to reduce your taxes by depreciating and projecting this loss of value to your tax forms. This is something that can be used for any type of equipment; but especially for medical equipment, the tax depreciation benefits are larger. So not waiting for the next year and buying your medical equipment before the end of the year can be beneficial in terms of depreciation, as you will deduct some percentage (up to %50) this year and you will also depreciate some of the value next year (up to %10). Thus, you get benefit from at least two years or more when you buy the medical equipment before the end of the year. This is a very useful incentive for medical practitioners.

However, there is a major tax benefit that has been introduced by the US Congress couple of years ago. This allows you to save money by not depreciating just the small portion of your medical equipment expense; but by deducting the full cost of the equipment (up to a total of a certain amount), so that you are able to get a real incentive for purchasing your medical equipment now, instead of waiting for the next year to come. This special tax benefit is called Section 179 of the US Tax code and it allows you to save a maximal deductible of $100,000 a year. In addition, the total investment that you are able to make through Section 179 has been increased to $ 400,000 per year.

So, the incentives outlined above make it really feasible to buy medical equipment before the end of the year. They are pretty good incentives and buying a medical equipment of even $ 100,000 can be deducted up to %100 with the depreciation incentives and with the Section 179 combined. This way you do not need to wait for next year for the cash flow to get better, as you will end up saving more this way. When you purchase medical equipment, the tax benefits of buying medical equipment before the end of the year will definitely cause you to pay lesser taxes, so that you get some of your money back in forms of taxes. This way waiting for the next year will mean that you end up paying more for the medical equipment, if you think about the taxes that you will end up paying. However for those medical practitioners who may have cash shortages and who are not able to buy their equipment; then you can think about leasing them as leasing the medical equipment will be 100% deductible from your taxes.

Always check with your tax advisor for all tax related advice. You can mention the sections and codes referenced in this article.

There can be some tax advantages available when buying medical equipment. It is also important that your purchase price is competitive to maximize the purchasing process. Be sure to work with Medical Equipment Pros to ensure that you buy the right equipment at the best price.

References

CNY Business Journal

Kent Harlan (CPA)”Benefits of Tax Deductibles for Medical Equipment”

US Code Title 26 – Internal Revenue Code

Internal revenue Service Publications Form I-944

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Medical Equipment

Blake Quintero asked:




Medical equipment is designed to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Medical equipment also plays very important role in monitoring the condition of a patient undergoing treatment at a hospital. With the advent of internet, the medical equipment sector has seen a phenomenal growth and penetration. The basic medical equipment can be categorised into the following types:

- Diagnostic equipment that include medical imaging machines such as the MRI and ultra sound machines, X-ray machines, CT scanners and PET

- Therapeutic instruments such as LASIK surgical equipment, medical lasers and infusion pumps

- Life support instruments that are employed to aid in the functioning of the body properly such as the dialysis machine, ECMO, heart lung machine, anaesthetic machines and ventilators

- Monitoring equipment that allow the medical professional to keep a track of the functions of the various vital organs of a patient such as the EEG, ECG and blood pressure monitoring equipment

- Various medical laboratory instruments that enable professionals to analyse urine, genes and blood

All the equipment enumerated above is just a brief compendium and not an exhaustive list as with the advancement in medical science, biomedical engineering and stem cell therapy the number and diversity of medical equipment has grown exponentially during the last decade.

There are various companies that sell these products online. Hospitals and health care providers are increasingly availing of the services of these online companies due to high quality of equipment offered at very competitive rates. One however needs to do a thorough market study to ensure that they get the best products and in the quickest possible time.

The instruments must adhere to quality norms and be of the highest quality and be able to perform at the peak of performance level for a prolonged period of time. In a nut shell, the equipment should offer a good value for money and a high return on investment. Other aspect that one has to look at is the customer service, after sales support, warranty and acceptance in the medical fraternity.

As the world shrinks in size and the internet brings customers and businesses closer to each other, there would be more developments in this arena. The medical equipment sector is choc a bloc with reputed companies who have significant online presence and are constantly looking at innovative techniques to provide customer satisfaction.

Each and every component that go into making a final product should pass through the most stringent of quality control procedures and the customer must ensure that the products on offer are endorsed by the regulatory or certifying authorities.

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Is Selling Medical Equipment the Answer to Financial Freedom?

Kyle Arrington asked:




For those of you who sell medical equipment know it can be one of the more lucrative jobs in sales, but is it the answer to financial freedom? Medical equipment sales can be challenging because there is typically nothing else to buy once the sale is complete. So after the close, onward and upward to seeking a brand new prospect. This is why the commissions are so great, because there are far fewer of them than other sales jobs. The high price of capital equipment also makes for a longer sales process, averaging anywhere from a couple of months to even years depending on the account. If they just started looking, you’re usually in for a real treat because they are going to find out about your competitors so you better have great follow up to overcome objections.

Recession in Sales

Since the beginning of the recession, you can ask almost any salesperson how their numbers are and they will tell you they aren’t making as much money. Even if the equipment is not in a cash based industry, practices are concerned about the possible changes in insurance coverage. We all know what a nightmare reimbursement can be anyway. Salespeople are usually in sales because they have a certain amount of control of how much money they will make. However, due to the recession the control is not as great, either practices are not buying or the company they work for changed the compensation plan to benefit themselves to compensate for the lower numbers.

So what is the answer to being in control of our income? All companies have to do whats best for themselves, it isn’t usually to benefit the employee but more often then not, we just take it. We have to because its our livelihood. How else would we pay our bills? Is there an alternative? The recession has made it difficult to find another sales job, even if we did would it really be better than what we had? Or just different?

Recession Proof

The recession has affected almost every industry. In cash based equipment sales, it has almost destroyed it. Companies went from independent reps to direct, now going back to the independent ones to eliminate benefits. So what is the answer to financial freedom? The answer to making more money than selling medical equipment or any other sales job during this economic climate.

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