“Taxing broadband grants would undermine federal efforts to prioritize rural broadband expansion.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of colleagues in introducing legislation to prevent the taxation of broadband grants. The Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (BGTTA) would amend the Internal Revenue Code to ensure that federal grant funding for broadband deployment will not be considered taxable income.
“Rural communities are the backbone of our nation, and we want to ensure that Americans living in these communities have access to high-speed internet,” said Senator Tuberville. “Taxing broadband grants would undermine federal efforts to prioritize rural broadband expansion. I am proud to support this legislation so that those living in rural America have internet needed to run their businesses, access health care, and pursue educational opportunities.”
As Alabama’s voice on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Nutrition, support for this legislation is the latest effort in Senator Tuberville’s work to expand access to broadband in rural areas to benefit the state’s farmers and agricultural industries.
Grants awarded for the purposes of broadband deployment are currently factored into a company’s income and are subject to taxation. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation moves to exclude broadband deployment grants awarded through federal legislation from an organization’s income, ensuring the entirety of federal dollars awarded to companies for the purpose of deploying broadband around the country can be used wholly for that purpose, rather than making their way back to the government through taxes.
This legislation was first introduced last Congress in both the Senate and the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The full text of the legislation can be found here.
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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