HB239INTRODUCED
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HB239
RJGFNMN-1
By Representatives Bolton, Starnes, Mooney
RFD: Ways and Means Education
First Read: 11-Feb-25
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5 RJGFNMN-1 01/27/2025 PMG (L)PMG 2025-210
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First Read: 11-Feb-25
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, rural physicians qualify for
an income tax credit if they meet certain
qualifications. Specifically, a physician must have
admission privileges to a small or rural hospital and
must practice and reside in a community that has a
population less than 25,000 residents and has a
hospital with an emergency room.
This bill would delete the requirement that a
physician must reside in a community that has a
hospital with an emergency room in order to qualify for
the tax credit.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to the rural physician tax credit; to amend
Sections 40-18-131, Code of Alabama 1975, to revise the
qualifications for eligibility; and to provide for retroactive
effect.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 40-18-131, Code of Alabama 1975, is
amended to read as follows:
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amended to read as follows:
"ยง40-18-131
(a) For the Effective for tax years ending on or before
December 31, 2024, for purposes of this article, the following
words have the following meanings, respectively, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) RURAL PHYSICIAN. A physician licensed to practice
medicine in Alabama who practices and resides in a small or
rural community and has admission privileges to a small or
rural hospital.
(2) SMALL OR RURAL COMMUNITY. A community in Alabama
that has less than 25,000 residents according to the latest
decennial census and has a hospital with an emergency room.
(3) SMALL OR RURAL HOSPITAL. An acute care hospital
that meets one of the following requirements:
a. Contains less than 105 beds and is located more than
20 miles, under normal travel conditions, from another acute
care hospital located in Alabama.
b. Receives Medicare rural reimbursement from the
federal government.
(b) Effective for tax years beginning on or after
January 1, 2025, for purposes of this article, the following
words have the following meanings, respectively, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) RURAL PHYSICIAN. A physician licensed to practice
medicine in Alabama who practices in a small or rural
community, resides in a small or rural community, and has
admission privileges to a small or rural hospital.
(2) SMALL OR RURAL COMMUNITY. A community in Alabama
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(2) SMALL OR RURAL COMMUNITY. A community in Alabama
that has less than 25,000 residents according to the latest
decennial census.
(3) SMALL OR RURAL HOSPITAL. An acute care hospital
that meets one of the following requirements:
a. Contains less than 105 beds and is located more than
20 miles, under normal travel conditions, from another acute
care hospital located in Alabama.
b. Receives Medicare rural reimbursement from the
federal government. "
Section 2. This act shall become effective immediately.
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