I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3598
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against
income tax for businesses which provide free public Internet access.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 2000
Mr. ROGAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a
credit against income tax for businesses which provide
free public Internet access.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Free Public
Internet Access Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR BUSINESSES WHICH PROVIDE FREE
PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to business related credits) is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 45D. CREDIT FOR BUSINESS-PROVIDED FREE PUBLIC
INTERNET ACCESS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the
free public Internet access credit determined under this
section for the taxable year is an amount equal to 100
percent of the Internet access expenditures of the taxpayer
for such taxable year.
‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The credit allowable under
subsection (a) for any taxable year shall not exceed
$100,000.
‘‘(2) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons which
are treated as a single employer under subsections
(a) and (b) of section 52 shall be treated as a single
taxpayer for purposes of paragraph (1).
‘‘(c) INTERNET ACCESS EXPENDITURE.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘free public Internet access
expenditure’ means any amount paid or incurred during
the taxable year—
‘‘(1) to acquire any computer—
‘‘(A) used exclusively in providing Internet
access without charge to the general public, and
‘‘(B) with respect to which a deduction for
depreciation (or amortization in lieu of depre-
ciation) is allowable, and
‘‘(2) for Internet access for such computer.
‘‘(d) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—
‘‘(1) REDUCTION IN BASIS.—For purposes of
this subtitle, if a credit is determined under this sec-
tion with respect to any property, the basis of such
property shall be reduced by the amount of the cred-
it so determined.
‘‘(2) OTHER DEDUCTIONS AND CREDITS.—No
deduction or credit shall be allowed under any other
provision of this chapter with respect to the amount
of the credit determined under this section.
‘‘(e) RECAPTURE
IN CERTAIN CASES.—The Sec-
retary shall, by regulations, provide for recapturing the
benefit of any credit allowable under subsection (a) with
respect to any property which is not used exclusively in
providing Internet access without charge to the general
public at any time.’’
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 38(b) of such Code is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of para-
graph (11),
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (12) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(13) the free public Internet access credit de-
termined under section 45D.’’.
(2) Subsection (d) of section 39 of such Code
(relating to carryback and carryforward of unused
credits) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(9) NO CARRYBACK OF SECTION 45D CREDIT
BEFORE JANUARY 1, 2001.—No portion of the un-
used business credit for any taxable year which is
attributable to the credit determined under section
45D may be carried back to a taxable year begin-
ning before January 1, 2001.’’.
(3) Subsection (a) of section 1016 of such Code
(relating to adjustments to basis) is amended by
striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (26), by
striking the period at the end of paragraph (27) and
inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(28) to the extent provided in section
45D(d)(1) (relating to credit for business-provided
free Internet access.’’.
(4) The table of sections for subpart D of part
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following new
item:
‘‘Sec. 45D. Credit for business-provided free public Internet ac-
cess.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
December 31, 2000.
Æ