I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1362 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable credit against tax for the purchase of communications signal boosters in areas with inadequate broadband internet access service, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. MOOLENAAR (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mr. HUIZENGA, and Mr. BERGMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable credit against tax for the purchase of commu- nications signal boosters in areas with inadequate broadband internet access service, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1362.IH H1362 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1362 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Broadening Online Op- 2 portunities through Simple Technologies Act’’ or the 3 ‘‘BOOST Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. BROADBAND INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS SIGNAL 5 BOOSTER CREDIT. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 8 1986 is amended by inserting before section 37 the fol- 9 lowing new section: 10 ‘‘SEC. 36C. BROADBAND INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS SIG- 11 NAL BOOSTER CREDIT. 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 13 elects the application of this section, there shall be allowed 14 as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle for 15 the taxable year an amount equal to 75 percent of so much 16 of the qualified signal booster expenditures of the taxpayer 17 for the taxable year as does not exceed $400. 18 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED SIGNAL BOOSTER EXPENDI- 19 TURES.—For purposes of this section— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified signal 21 booster expenditures’ means amounts paid or in- 22 curred by the taxpayer for the purchase of any com- 23 munications signal booster for use by the taxpayer 24 in a principal residence (within the meaning of sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1362.IH H1362 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1362 IH tion 121) of the taxpayer which is located in an 1 unserved area. 2 ‘‘(2) COMMUNICATIONS SIGNAL BOOSTER.—The 3 term ‘communications signal booster’ means a device 4 the first use of which is with the taxpayer and that 5 receives a wireless signal, or a commercial mobile 6 data service (as defined in section 6001 of the Mid- 7 dle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 8 (47 U.S.C. 1401)) signal— 9 ‘‘(A) in order to increase the strength or 10 range of such signal, and 11 ‘‘(B) in connection with retransmitting a 12 broadband internet access service signal. 13 ‘‘(3) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘unserved 14 area’ means an area eligible for funding under phase 15 1 or phase 2 of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund 16 established by the Federal Communications Commis- 17 sion in the Report and Order in the matter of Rural 18 Digital Opportunity Fund and Connect America 19 Fund that was adopted by the Commission on Janu- 20 ary 30, 2020 (FCC 20–5). 21 ‘‘(4) BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERV- 22 ICE.—The term ‘broadband internet access service’ 23 has the meaning given such term in section 8.1(b) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1362.IH H1362 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1362 IH of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc- 1 cessor regulation). 2 ‘‘(c) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR ONLY 1 TAXABLE 3 YEAR.—An election by the taxpayer to have this section 4 apply may not be made for any taxable year if such an 5 election is in effect for the taxpayer for any preceding tax- 6 able year. 7 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 8 shall, in consultation with the Federal Communications 9 Commission, prescribe such regulations, and provide such 10 other guidance, as may be necessary to carry out the pur- 11 poses of this section. 12 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 13 any amounts paid or incurred in any taxable year begin- 14 ning after December 31, 2025.’’. 15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 16 for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 17 of such Code is amended by inserting before the item re- 18 lating to section 26 the following new item: 19 ‘‘Sec. 36C. Broadband internet communications signal booster credit.’’. (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1324(b) of 20 title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 21 ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 24 December 31, 2020. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1362.IH H1362 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1362 IH SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 It is the sense of the Congress that the Federal Com- 2 munications Commission should establish maps of areas 3 eligible for funding under phase 2 of the Rural Digital 4 Opportunity Fund as expeditiously as possible. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1362.IH H1362 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS