Md. Code Regs. 03.06.01.09

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 8, April 19, 2024

Section 03.06.01.09 - Sale of Medicines, Medical Supplies, Tobacco Cessation Products, Sickroom Equipment, and Certain Medical Equipment

A. The sales and use tax does not apply to sales of medicines, disposable medical supplies, tobacco cessation products, sickroom equipment, certain medical supplies, and certain medical equipment.

B. For the purposes of Tax-General Article, Title 11, Annotated Code of Maryland, the following terms have the meanings indicated:

(1) Medical Equipment.

(a) "Medical equipment" means equipment that:

(i) Can withstand repeated use;

(ii) Is used exclusively to serve a medical purpose;

(iii) Is not useful to a person in the absence of illness or injury; and

(iv) Is for use in the home or on the individual's person.

(b) "Medical equipment" includes, but is not limited to, the following items:

(i) Overbed table;

(ii) Wheelchair tray;

(iii) Pressure or pressure sore relief products;

(iv) Bath and toilet safety products;

(v) Respiratory equipment;

(vi) Trapeze bar;

(vii) Traction equipment;

(viii) Patient lifts;

(ix) Geriatric chair;

(x) Thermaphores, heating pads, cervical pillows, medical corsets, elastic bandages;

(xi) All types of braces, casts, mastectomy bras and forms; and

(xii) Apnea monitors, infant breathing monitors, and blood glucose monitors.

(c) "Medical equipment" does not include:

(i) Lift chairs;

(ii) Exercise equipment;

(iii) Air conditioners;

(iv) Humidifiers;

(v) Dehumidifiers;

(vi) Vibrators;

(vii) Massagers;

(viii) Bedside cabinets; and

(ix) Receptacles for medical waste.

(d) "For use in the home" includes a nursing home or other assisted care facility, but only to the extent that the equipment remains in the room in which the patient sleeps and is used regularly and exclusively by the patient in that room. Equipment that is used generally for patients throughout the nursing home or other assisted care facility is not considered to be for use in the home. Thus, equipment used in examination, treatment, operating, delivery, and therapy rooms or moved from patient room to patient room in a nursing home or other assisted care facility is not exempt.

(e) "For use in the home or on the individual's person" does not include devices used or placed on a person for diagnostic purposes. These devices include, without limitation, the following:

(i) Blood pressure devices;

(ii) Thermometers;

(iii) Scales of any type; and

(iv) Devices used to obtain or monitor pulse, respiration, or heart rate, such as pulse oximeters, control diascans, Doppler diagnostic equipment, mini-Dopplers, and heart monitors.

(2) "Medical supplies" means an article used in the cure, mitigation, treatment, prevention, or diagnosis of illnesses. Disposable medical supplies are medical or surgical supplies consumed in a single usage and do not include skin care creams or cleansers. Medical supplies do not include nondisposable surgical supplies, or medical or surgical equipment.

(3) "Medicine" means a preparation or substance intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of illnesses. The term includes drugs sold on prescription of physicians, drugs for which no prescription is required, and proprietary and patent medicines. The term does not include cosmetics, dentifrices, shaving and hair care products, soaps, deodorants, or skin care creams or cleansers. A product that is primarily cosmetic in nature is not "medicine" even though it may contain medicinal properties.

(4) "Sickroom equipment" means "medical equipment" as defined in §B(1) of this regulation.

(5) "Tobacco cessation products" means nicotine patches, nicotine gum, or any other product intended for use as an aid in tobacco use cessation and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for that purpose.

Md. Code Regs. 03.06.01.09

Regulation .09 effective June 17, 1963; amended effective August 25, 1978 (5:17 Md. R. 1325); January 1, 1989 (15:26 Md. R. 2979)
Regulation .09C amended effective January 1, 1990 (16:25 Md. R. 2708)
Regulation .09A and B amended effective August 22, 1980 (7:17 Md. R. 1668); August 30, 1982 (9:17 Md. R. 1704)
Regulation .09F adopted effective August 22, 1980 (7:17 Md. R. 1668)
Regulation .09 amended effective January 14, 1999 (26:1 Md. R. 22); April 2, 2001 (28:6 Md. R. 620)
Regulation .09B amended effective 40:16 Md. R. 1340, eff.8/19/2013 ; amended effective 49:14 Md. R.704, eff. 7/11/2022