H.R. 9244, Corporate Tax Shelter for Remote Business. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a net cost — and names who bears it.

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.

The analysis names e-commerce platforms — and 5 more groups — among the beneficiaries.

The cost

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 analysis put a high warning level on this bill. Transparency scores 65%, and the analysis found no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.

Who is behind it

Filed by Pat Harrigan.