Dentists Now Eligible to Receive Funding

Dentists are now eligible to apply to receive funding from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Provider Relief Fund. Dentists can receive a reimbursement of 2% of their annual reported patient revenue based on their last filed tax return.

However, please note that the last day to apply for funding is Monday, August 3rd. The application and related information can be found through the Enhanced Provider Relief Portal.

To be eligible to apply, a dental provider must meet all of the following requirements:

  • Must not have received payment from the initial $50 billion Medicare-focused general distribution.
  • Must not have received payment from the $15 billion Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program distribution.
  • Must have filed a federal income tax return for fiscal years 2017, 2018 or 2019 OR be an entity exempt from the requirement to file a federal income tax return and have no beneficial owner that is required to file a federal income tax return (for example, a state-owned hospital or health care clinic).
  • Must have provided patient dental care after Jan. 31, 2020.
  • Must not have permanently ceased providing patient dental care directly or indirectly through included subsidiaries. However, dental offices that shut down during the pandemic are eligible.
  • If the applicant is an individual, have gross receipts or sales from providing patient dental care reported on their most previous filed Form 1040, Schedule C, Line 1, excluding income reported on a W-2 as a statutory employee.

Some highlights from the HHS guidance:

  • It does not have to be paid back if the dentist satisfies the Terms and Conditions.
  • To support payments to dental providers who may not bill Medicare or Medicaid, HHS has developed a curated list of dental practice Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) from third party sources and HHS datasets.
  • According to the FAQs, payments will be based upon 2% of revenues from patient care for most recent tax filing, as reported by the applicant, and with accompanying submitted tax documentation.
  • Additional information and FAQ’s can be found here.

It is our understanding that unlike the Paycheck Protection Program, the income received from this fund will be taxable as ordinary income. Visit the IRS website for more information.

Please let us know if we can be of assistance on this topic or for any of your accounting needs. We can be reached at (973) 298-8500.