Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has signed an executive order to abolish the tax on medical records an the systems doctors use to access them.
Under the rule established by previous leadership of the Comptroller’s office, technology that stores or shares medical records was unfairly subjected to the sales tax, which meant Texans could get hit with a tax just for accessing their own medical information. “That’s a tax on healthcare,” Huffines said. “Every dollar a doctor’s office sends to Austin for a tax nobody voted for is a dollar it can’t spend on nurses, equipment, or reducing the cost for patients.” The Huffines rule change clarifies that it is neither taxable information services nor taxable data processing services.
The Huffines rule change ends taxes on charges for:
- electronic health record (EHR) systems;
- electronic medical record (EMR) systems;
- patient portals; and
- other healthcare technology systems used to maintain, access, or share medical records.
The Huffines executive order directs the agency to publish a proposed amendment to Rule 3.342, governing the taxation of information services. Under the updated rule, electronic health records, electronic medical records, patient portals, and other healthcare technology systems would no longer be taxed as information services or data processing services.
The proposed amendment will be filed with the Texas Secretary of State and published in the Texas Register, followed by a 30‑day public comment period. Texans can submit feedback to the Comptroller’s office during that window.
The Comptroller’s full press release can be found here.
