NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association CEO Shirley Bloomfield sent a letter this week to leadership of the Finance Committee of the United States Senate supporting the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 and encouraging the committee to include legislation to ensure broadband grants are no longer taxable.
The bill, which was recently approved by the Committee on Ways and Means in the House of Representatives, includes an extension of 100% bonus depreciation, allowing businesses to immediately deduct the purchase price of eligible assets. Bloomfield’s letter expressed support for this legislation and encouraged the committee to include the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act as well to ensure that grants for the deployment of broadband infrastructure are no longer treated as taxable income.
“Congress has recently committed tens of billions of dollars to broadband deployment, but taxing broadband grants dramatically reduces their impact,” Bloomfield wrote. “In addition, most of the assets to be purchased and deployed leveraging recent federal broadband deployment funding will likely not qualify for 100% bonus depreciation even if extended, since much of the network construction will not be completed until after the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 bonus depreciation extension expires – leaving many small, rural broadband providers unable to take full advantage of this pro-investment tax relief.”
To read the full letter click here.
NTCA this week also joined eight organizations on a joint letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees urging inclusion of the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act in any comprehensive tax legislation.