BizTech Law Blog
The applicability of sales tax in Internet transactions is in the spotlight and one of the most contentious issues in the state tax arena. With states strapped for cash, some legislatures are focusing on a perceived subsidy that benefits Internet retailers to the detriment of "brick-and-mortar" retailers. Case and point, when you travel to the mall and buy the latest Harry Potter book, sales tax will be charged. However, order that same book via an Internet retailer, such as Amazon.com, and no sales tax is charged. So what gives?
As noted in a previous posting, on June 23, 2011, the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate approved a similar bill in March (S. 23). However, since the bills were not identical, the issue of patent reform must go before the U.S. Senate again. But what are the chances of that happening anytime soon?
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS"), CMS has already paid $75 million to health care providers for meaningful use of electronic health records ("EHR") since the first incentive payments began in mid-May, 2011. This number is only expected to rise as physicians and hospitals have until the end of 2012 to attest to "meaningful use" of EHR and become entitled to receive the maximum amounts over a five-year period.
