得州主计长赫芬斯呼吁民众就取消病历税发表意见：拟明确电子病历收费不再征销售税
得克萨斯州特拉维斯县奥斯汀市消息：得州主计长Don Huffines（唐·赫芬斯）10月28日在奥斯汀呼吁全州居民，就其取消病历税的计划发表意见；相关规则变更将于本周刊登在《得克萨斯纪事报》（Texas Register）上，正式征求公众评论。
按现行规则，得州对医生与医院为访问在线病历所支付的费用征收销售税。赫芬斯提出的规则变更将明确：电子病历系统、电子医疗记录系统与患者门户网站等相关收费，既不属于应税信息服务，也不属于应税数据处理服务，从而终结对这些收费征税。主计长办公室指出，此前制定的规则把存储或分享病历的技术纳入了征税范围。
赫芬斯已于10月6日签署行政命令启动这项规则变更。他表示：「这次规则变更旨在恢复公平，公众的意见对完善记录至关重要。」公众评论期开启后，居民可按公布渠道提交意见，主计长办公室将在汇总意见后决定最终规则。
来源：GSM·美国
Texas Comptroller Huffines Invites Public Comment on Ending the Medical Records Tax: Electronic Records Fees Would No Longer Face Sales Tax
AUSTIN, Travis County, Texas — Texas Comptroller Don Huffines on October 28 called on Texans to submit comments on his plan to end the tax on medical records; the proposed rule change will be published this week in the Texas Register to open a public comment period.
Under current rules, Texas charges sales tax on fees that doctors and hospitals pay to access online medical records. Huffines' proposed change would clarify that charges for electronic health record systems, electronic medical record systems and patient portals are neither taxable information services nor taxable data processing services, ending the tax on those fees. The Comptroller's office said rules adopted under prior leadership had swept the technology used to store and share medical records into the tax base.
Huffines signed an executive order on October 6 to initiate the rule change. "This rule change is about restoring fairness, and the public's perspective is essential," he said. Once the comment period opens, residents may submit comments through the published channels, and the Comptroller's office will decide the final rule after reviewing them.
Source: GSM · USA
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：配图为哈菲恩斯本人照片，盖奇·斯基德莫尔摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo of Don Huffines by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
