Tax break for utility bills shifts cost to federal budget
H.R. 8350 — No Taxes on Utility Bills Act · Filed by Josh Riley (D-NY) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 16, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill allows taxpayers to deduct taxes and state-mandated surcharges that appear on their gas and electric utility bills from their federal income taxes. Currently, most utility taxes and surcharges are not deductible; this change would let individuals and businesses reduce their taxable income by the amount of these charges, effectively shifting some of the cost of state utility regulation onto the federal government through foregone tax revenue.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand the scope of deductible expenses under IRC §164(a) to include utility taxes and surcharges. It is a straightforward tax-code amendment with no hidden riders or complex cross-references.
What the text implies
- Deduction benefit is largest for high-income taxpayers in high-tax states with high utility surcharges, potentially widening regional and income-based tax disparities.
- State-mandated surcharges often fund renewable energy, grid modernization, or low-income assistance programs; deductibility shifts their cost burden upward to federal level.
- Effective date is prospective (taxable years after enactment), creating no retroactive liability but also no windfall for prior-year filers.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Homeowners and businesses with utility bills gain a tax deduction, lowering their federal tax burden. However, the foregone federal revenue must be made up through higher taxes elsewhere, spending cuts, or increased deficits—spreading the cost across all taxpayers and potentially reducing public investment. The benefit is concentrated among those with utility bills and sufficient income to itemize deductions, while the cost is diffuse.
Who stands to gain
- Individual taxpayers with utility bills
- Businesses with utility expenses
- High-income households in high-tax states
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, IRC Section 164(a), State utility regulators, Gas and electric utilities
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Apr 16, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 16, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (707 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Tax break for utility bills shifts cost to federal budget” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr8350 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.