Public accommodations are prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) from discriminating on the basis of disability.
Public accommodations include medical offices, parks, universities, medical facilities, clinics, lodges, dining establishments, theaters, and day care centers.
Under Section 44 of the Internal Revenue Code, tax credits are obtainable for small businesses to help cover the cost of making access improvements to persons with disabilities, including the deaf.
Accessibility includes providing sign language interpreters.
When the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted, adaptive equipment included little more than archaic TTY phones or a pencil and paper. I am assuming you could now include a videophone or computer with a web cam and a connection to an interpreter via Video Relay Interpreting (VRI), as well as an on-site community interpreter if needed.
Compliance does not always require a sign language interpreter. The ADA does not let public accommodations to discriminate against the deaf.
Exception:
A public accommodation is not mandated to give a service or auxiliary aid that fundamentally changes the character of the goods and services provided or which results in an undue burden.
"Undue burden" is defined as "significant difficulty or expense". Factors to consider are established in the Title III Technical Assistance Manual.
For example, a car dealer could have promotional material to cover the preliminary part of the buying process, but might have to engage an interpreter to assist in the difficult stages of the price negotiation and contract.
In medical situations, doctors can use written notes for minor instructions, but almost all hospital situations will require the need of a sign language interpreter. Due to emotional involvement or privacy concerns, it's often not appropriate to ask a family member who knows sign language to interpret.
To learn the current acceptable expenses, it's always a good idea to seek advice from your accountant or other tax experts.
Qualified Small Businesses:
1. 30 or less full time workers
or
2. less than $1,000,000 in annual revenues
Credit can be used for:
1. provision of sign language interpreters
2. providing auxiliary equipment
Amount of the Tax Credit:
- 50% of the eligible access expenditures
- no tax credit for the initial $250 of expenses
- top limit of expenses of $10,250
- formulation yields a maximum credit for the tax year of $5,000
Yearly Incentives:
Tax credits are calculated on an annual basis. Expenditures over the annual tax credit limit cannot be carried over to the next year.
Conclusion:
ADA compliance continues to be an unfunded mandate that affects many small businesses. Supplementary costs of compliance may not be passed on to individual clients, patients, or customers.
Taking advantage of tax credits can cut annual expenses for helping deaf patients, clients, and customers by up to 50%, and help pay for expensive equipment to make your business more available to the deaf or hard-of-hearing for years to come.
Recovering half of your expenditures provides a good incentive to improve your method of communicating with deaf patients or clients.
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tags: sign language interpreters,tax credits,adaptive equipment,small business,ADA,IRS,ASL
Author Resource:
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Charles Lamm is a retired attorney now serving as a legal/technical consultant for Accessible Communication for the Deaf (ACD) in Sunrise, Florida. His umbrella blog can be found at chazl.com .
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