Alabama Preceptor Tax Incentive Program
(APTIP)
Alabama Preceptor Tax Incentive Program (APTIP)
In 2023, Alabama legislature approved the Alabama Preceptor Tax Incentive Program (APTIP) to offer a tax deduction to uncompensated healthcare professions preceptors in our State. The goal of the APTIP is to increase medical student training in rural and underserved counties in Alabama.
Administered by the Alabama Statewide AHEC Program Office, APTIP provides a $500 income tax credit incentive for each 160-hour clinical preceptorship rotation per calendar year for what would otherwise be unpaid work by community-based faculty preceptor positions. Precepting physicians are eligible for a maximum of $6,000 per calendar year. Similarly, the law provides a $425 tax incentive for each 160-hour clinical preceptorship rotation per calendar year for preceptors who are nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists or physician assistants, with a $5,100 annual maximum.
This novel program provides a way for Alabama to say “thank you” to the uncompensated preceptors who train our next generation of key health care providers.
Eligibility
The Alabama Preceptor Tax Incentive Program (APTIP) rewards licensed physicians, dentists, optometrists, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and physician assistants taking Alabama, medical, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, nursing, midwife and nurse anesthetist students into their practices for the students’ required clerkships.
The credit is only available for rotations supporting eligible Alabama programs.
Preceptors who receive direct compensation for teaching from ANY source are not eligible to earn this deduction.
Eligible Programs:
The program must be an Institution of higher education that is physically located in this state and has an accredited educational program for medicine, dentistry, optometry, physician assistants, anesthesia assistants, or certified registered nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, or certified registered nurse anesthetists. Programs must be registered with the Alabama Statewide AHEC Program Office.
Programs will submit completed rotation dates and hours to the Alabama Statewide AHEC Program Office.
Preceptor Qualifications:
- Licensed physician, dentist, optometrist, nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, or physician assistant
- Cannot receive direct compensation for teaching medical, osteopathic, NP, PA or RN students from any source.
- The credit is only available for rotations supporting eligible Alabama programs.
- Must complete a minimum of 1 rotation to be eligible; credit is provided retroactively once eligibility is established. A maximum of 12 rotations may be claimed each calendar year.
- Maximum tax credit earned each year is $6,000 for Physicians and $5,100 for NP, PAs and RNs.
- The 160 hours does NOT have to be tied to a single rotation, but is accrued across all students precepted. Some student rotations may be one day a week for four months, while others may be completed in 4-6 week blocks. Using hours to determine a credit levels the field so that all credits are earned based on 160 hours of teaching.
- Regardless of program participation, all preceptors MUST register with APTIP in order for their rotations to be certified.
Preceptor FAQS
How many tax credits can I earn?
Credits are available for up to 10 rotations (160 hours each rotation). These are earned as follows:
| $500 tax credit incentive | 160 hours of clinical preceptorship rotation |
|
Maximum $6,000 per calendar year |
| $425 tax credit incentive | 160 hours of clinical preceptorship rotation |
|
Maximum $5,100 per calendar year |
Why are Physicians provided a higher level of credit than the APRN or PA preceptors?
This is based solely on the income differential among the professions.
How will preceptors register for the program? Do I need to re-register each year?
Register here. You only need to register once; however if any of your contact information changes you will need to go into the system and edit your record. It is the responsibility of the preceptor to maintain current information in the registration system.
I have not precepted students before; how do I get started?
Please contact the Alabama AHEC Statewide Program office to indicate your interest in precepting students. We can put you into contact with academic programs seeking clinical preceptors.
How will student hours be counted?
A rotation is defined as 160 hours of community based clinical training. It can be accrued from multiple programs, and hours do not have to occur within one student rotation. Academic programs submit information certifying that student rotations with a preceptor have been completed; preceptors do not submit rotation data.
What type of documentation will I receive for my tax purposes?
Tax credit Certification letters will be issued by the Alabama Statewide AHEC Program Office by January 30 of each year for the last full calendar year. No other entity is legislatively authorized to produce these letters.
Can I carry over rotations into the next calendar year for eligibility?
No, all credits must be used in the year earned. EXAMPLE: If your state tax debt was $4,000 but you had earned $5000 in credits, you would not be able to “carry over” the unused credit of $1,000 to tax year 2024. You may not transfer unused credit to another individual, nor can you “cash out” unused credits.
If my partner(s) precept part of the time but I do the majority of the supervision, must I divide the earned deduction with them?
You can choose from several options: 1) claim the rotation fully; 2) alternate claiming rotations with your partner; 3) each of you claim a percentage of the hours earned. However the student’s academic program must be notified to list your contribution in one of these ways, prior to submission.
If my practice receives financial support from a program, does that disqualify me from claiming the credit?
Only if you *personally* receive direct compensation from a program would you be disqualified. If you receive payment to teach students from ANY source, you are not eligible to earn the tax credits. If your practice receives an administrative stipend to assist with administrative costs of precepting then you are not disqualified.
If a student only needs 80 hours (as do some NPs for a particular experience), will that count as a full rotation if I precepted them the entire time?
The legislation defines an eligible rotation as 160 hours. For this example, the preceptor would need to provide two rotations that would total 160 hours to qualify for one credit.
If I precept two medical students simultaneously, do both rotations count?
Yes, each individual student rotation will be counted.
How do you determine who gets the tax credit?
Each Alabama program is responsible for submitting all community based preceptor hours to the Alabama Statewide AHEC Program Office. The Office will match the hours to registered preceptors and credit hours provided.
I received my Certification Letter for the calendar year, but the credit amount is incorrect. Who should I contact for this?
Preceptors need to discuss any discrepancies with the Academic Program that sends them students to precept. The Alabama Statewide AHEC Program office does not have any knowledge of where students are placed and who they are placed with and does not certify the rotations occurred. It is imperative that you communicate clearly with the programs with which you work to insure you are credited with the appropriate hours you provide.
Participating Program FAQS
Will programs be required to report students' personal information?
Data required for students include: first name, last name, type of rotation (MD/DO/APRN/PA), date rotation completed, and number of hours of the rotation certified.
How do I report completed rotations by our students?
Programs are issued a secure log-in ID and password to submit rotation data directly into the APTIP system.
Can educational institutions register their preceptors?
We encourage preceptors to register themselves rather than asking a program to do so for them. However programs are encouraged to inform their preceptors of this opportunity and to share the registration link with them. We want preceptors to connect this benefit with the academic programs with whom they partner.
Resources for Preceptors & Programs
Training Resources Coming Soon!
AHEC prepares a diverse, culturally competent group of future healthcare professionals to succeed through service in underserved areas of Alabama. Learn more today!
The Alabama Statewide Area Health Education Center is funded in part by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the federal agency charged with training health professionals and improving health care for people who are geographically isolated, economically disadvantaged or medically vulnerable. The contents of this website are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
