THIS IS A REMINDER ONLY TO ALL OF OUR MEMBERS. WE DO NOT KNOW IF YOU HAVE PAID THE TAX OR IF YOUR LICENSE IS RETIRED.
Tennessee law requires every physician with an active license from the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners (BME) or Board of Osteopathic Examination (BOE) is required to pay a professional privilege tax by June 1 of each year to the State of Tennessee Department of Revenue. Physicians may not receive a reminder from the licensing board and only those who have previously signed up for e-mail reminders will receive them from the Department of Revenue.
Exemptions from Payment of the Tax
There are three exemptions available for physicians:
- Retired medical license (you must have filed an affidavit to retire your license with the appropriate licensing board); or
- Inactivated the medical license (available only for physicians practicing solely outside of Tennessee); or
- Active military service.
Many physicians in the past have called TMA thinking that no tax was due because they had retired from practice. As long as the medical license is active, a physician is responsible for the tax. The license must be retired before the June 1 due date to avoid paying the tax. By filing an affidavit of retirement, a physician may no longer engage in the active practice of medicine, including writing a prescription or treating the occasional patient.
- Affidavit of Retirement form from the BME
- Affidavit of Retirement form from the BOE
Electronic Payment of Tax
The tax must be paid electronically unless this causes the individual a hardship and that hardship is approved by the Department of Revenue. Typical hardships approved may be taxpayers who do not own a computer, taxpayers who do not have access to the internet or taxpayers whose religious beliefs prohibit the use of computers and related technology. Call (800) 342-1003 to request a hardship waiver from paying the tax electronically. A waiver does not excuse the requirement to timely pay the tax.
How to Pay the Tax
To electronically file the professional privilege tax return, you must have either your Social Security Number or your professional privilege tax account number. A licensee may begin paying the tax due on June 1, 2019 beginning January 1, 2019. If you do not know your account number, please use the online look-up available on the Tennessee Department of Revenue’s website.
Click here to access the website to pay an individual privilege tax or for a company to pay multiple individuals’ privilege tax.
Once the tax is paid, a confirmation page will come up and it should be printed for your records. This is the only chance you will have to print this confirmation. Call the Electronic Commerce Unit at (866) 368-6374 if you encounter any problems paying the tax online.
The Department of Revenue has FAQs available should a licensee have any additional questions.
Penalty for Nonpayment
A licensee who does not pay the tax is usually assessed a monetary penalty by the Department of Revenue. Continued nonpayment of the tax could result in the revocation of an individual’s license.
If you encounter any problems paying the tax or have a question, contact the TMA Legal Department at legal@tnmed.org or 800-659-1862, extension 1645.