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Albert represents hospital districts, large hospital systems, physician groups of all sizes and practice specialties, management companies and nonprofit healthcare organizations at every stage in their lifecycle. He enjoys being a part of a team that can handle complex mergers and transactions in the healthcare field alongside members of Husch Blackwell’s regulatory team.

Albert has particularly significant experience in the nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations area and is part of the Husch Blackwell nonprofit organizations group, having handled virtually all aspects of tax and transactional matters for the healthcare industry. He has applied for and received tax-exempt status for dozens of organizations and has been a frequent writer on the topic for state and national publications, such as the Texas Tax Lawyer and Wolters Kluwer Exempt Organization Reports.

On April 27, 2021, the United States Tax Court held that legal fees incurred by generic drug manufacturers in connection with “Section 271(e)(2)” patent infringement suits are deductible as ordinary business expenses and need not be capitalized. The opinion contradicts longstanding IRS field advice, and has potential applicability to generic drug manufacturers and others who have capitalized legal fees in recent years.

We understand the growing concern surrounding Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the issues and uncertainties many nonprofit organizations throughout the country are facing as a result of its impact on everyday life around the world.  From the most immediate issues – such as addressing workplace safety issues for employees and community stakeholders – to long term budgetary concerns – such as contingency planning for reduced funding due to the current bear market – we have provided a recap of the various issues the nonprofit executives should address.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced last week that he will delay the implementation of a sales tax on medical billing services until the Texas Legislature considers the proposed change when it meets in a regular session in 2021. The Comptroller’s staff will work with industry leaders leading up to the 140-day session in order to develop language that could amend the state’s sales tax statutes. The regular session of the Texas Legislature is scheduled to begin January 12, 2021, and end June 1, 2021.

Our prior article discussed the Texas Comptroller’s policy change in the fourth quarter of 2019, which would have rendered medical billing services subject to Texas sales tax, after longstanding reliance on rulings which exempted such services.

The Texas Comptroller issued an advisory opinion reversing a longstanding policy relating to Texas sales taxation of medical billing services that will impact all Texas medical management and medical billing companies. Originally set to be effective January 1, 2020,  the Comptroller last week delayed the implementation of the new position until April 1, 2020. However, the opportunity exists to work with the Comptroller to amend Texas’ tax law in the 2021 session of the Texas Legislature and prevent the new position from being implemented.

The potential impact of this policy cannot be understated. For both third-party medical billing companies and Texas medical management companies (even those wholly-controlled by the physicians, dentists, and other medical professionals it manages), the scope of “medical billing services” and the extent to which consideration flows for such services needs to be analyzed and a determination made, if required, to begin withholding and charging Texas sales tax on the required component next year. For example, the need to separately account for and state the taxable versus nontaxable component of any agreement that provides for a lump-sum fee is important (the “separately stated” strategy for sales tax compliance). With many management agreements, a fixed amount is paid to cover a broad spectrum of services.