Congress moves to shield remote tech giants from state taxes
H.R. 9244 — Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2026 · Filed by Pat Harrigan (R-NC) · Introduced Jun 10, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends a 1959 federal law to prevent states from taxing remote businesses unless they have significant physical presence in the state. It extends protections to digital goods and services, requires at least 15 days of physical presence annually to trigger state tax jurisdiction, and limits states' ability to tax out-of-state companies through independent contractors or remote information gathering. The primary beneficiaries are remote and digital businesses (e-commerce, cloud services, software companies) that currently face multi-state tax obligations; the cost falls on states and localities that lose tax revenue from these businesses.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to exempt remote and digital businesses from state tax jurisdiction by imposing a strict physical-presence requirement. While framed as 'simplification,' it functionally shields profitable out-of-state companies from multi-state taxation, reducing state revenue.
What the text implies
- States lose tax revenue from high-margin digital and remote businesses (cloud computing, SaaS, e-commerce), forcing them to raise taxes on residents or cut services.
- The 15-day de minimis threshold is easily gamed: a company can maintain market presence through independent contractors and remote operations without triggering tax jurisdiction.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
e-commerce platforms; cloud computing providers; software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies