Another week goes by and we continue to strongly advocate for the repeal of the medical device excise tax. This week in DC, the House passed the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until February 16th. Included in the CR is a 2-year retroactive suspension of the device tax and a 6-year reauthorization of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the longest reauthorization in CHIP’s history. Both would have a significant positive impact to our industry. The bill is now in the Senate’s hands, which we anticipate a vote today before midnight. At this time, it is unclear if the Senate has enough votes to pass the CR. If the House version of the CR does not pass, Congress will look to pass a clean, multi-day CR and have further discussions on a larger package that would address immigration, budget caps, and other issues. If the multi-day CR is the route Congress takes, it is likely the medical device excise tax will not be included
It remains critical to Colorado BioScience Association, the industry and our members that Congress act on the medical device tax prior to January 29th, when payments are due. We see the House version of the CR as a minimum first step and believe that we still need longer-term relief. We applaud leadership for their commitment to address medical device excise tax in the current CR and will continue to advocate for full repeal as it will provide long term stability and certainty for our industry, ultimately supporting our companies, the industry, jobs and new innovations for patients.
We encourage you to contact the Members of Congress from Colorado and encourage them to vote YES on the CR to avoid a government shutdown, give a short term relief to our medical device companies and fund the CHIP program for 6 years.
The IRS in the meantime is working to provide relief to medical device companies for the excise tax. The IRS announced relief for the first three calendar quarters of 2018 to medical device manufacturers, producers and importers from the failure to deposit penalties imposed by the tax code, provided the taxpayer meets certain requirements. To learn more about this relief click here
DON’T FORGET to register for CBSA’s Day at the Capitol event on Wednesday, February 7th!
This yearly event is a great opportunity to bring life science innovators to the state Capitol to advocate for policy objectives critical for the state’s more than 720 bioscience companies and organizations.
Highlights of the CBSA Day at the Capitol include:- Employing CBSA to assist with advocacy needs & engage with legislators
- Update on 2018 CBSA policy priorities
- Introduction to Colorado State Legislators and expectations for the 2018 session
- Remarks from Lt. Governor, Donna Lynne, DrPH