Remote Worker Relief Act of 2020

Remote Worker Relief Act of 2020

This bill establishes rules for the taxation of wages of individual taxpayers who work remotely to comply with COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) requirements and for the taxation of the businesses for whom such taxpayers work.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8056 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8056

  To establish rules for States or other taxing jurisdictions to tax 
    businesses and individuals during COVID-19 while employees are 
 performing employment duties in other States or taxing jurisdictions, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 14, 2020

 Ms. Scanlon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish rules for States or other taxing jurisdictions to tax 
    businesses and individuals during COVID-19 while employees are 
 performing employment duties in other States or taxing jurisdictions, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Remote Worker Relief Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. STATE AND LOCAL TAX CERTAINTY.

    (a) Status of Employees During Covered Period.--Notwithstanding any 
provision of law of a taxing jurisdiction, with respect to any employee 
who is working remotely within such taxing jurisdiction during the 
covered period--
            (1) except as provided under paragraph (2), any wages 
        earned by such employee during such period shall be deemed to 
        have been earned at the primary work location of such employee; 
        and
            (2) if an employer, at its sole discretion, maintains a 
        system that tracks where such employee performs duties on a 
        daily basis, wages earned by such employee may, at the election 
        of such employer, be treated as earned at the location in which 
        such duties were remotely performed.
    (b) Status of Businesses During Covered Period.--Notwithstanding 
any provision of law of a taxing jurisdiction--
            (1) in the case of an out-of-state business which has any 
        employees working remotely within such jurisdiction during the 
        covered period, the duties performed by such employees within 
        such jurisdiction during such period shall not be sufficient to 
        create any nexus or establish any minimum contacts or level of 
        presence that would otherwise subject such business to any 
        registration, taxation, or other related requirements for 
        businesses operating within such jurisdiction; and
            (2) except as provided under subsection (a)(2), with 
        respect to any tax imposed by such taxing jurisdiction which is 
        determined, in whole or in part, based on net or gross receipts 
        or income, for purposes of apportioning or sourcing such 
        receipts or income, any duties performed by an employee of an 
        out-of-state business while working remotely during the covered 
        period--
                    (A) shall be disregarded with respect to any filing 
                requirements for such tax; and
                    (B) shall be apportioned and sourced to the tax 
                jurisdiction which includes the primary work location 
                of such employee.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            (1) Covered period.--The term ``covered period'' means, 
        with respect to any employee working remotely, the period--
                    (A) beginning on the date on which such employee 
                began working remotely; and
                    (B) ending on the earlier of--
                            (i) the date on which the employer allows, 
                        at the same time--
                                    (I) such employee to return to 
                                their primary work location; and
                                    (II) not less than 90 percent of 
                                their permanent workforce to return to 
                                such work location; or
                            (ii) December 31, 2020.
            (2) Employee.--The term ``employee'' has the same meaning 
        given to it by the taxing jurisdiction in which the employment 
        duties are performed.
            (3) Employer.--The term ``employer'' has the same meaning 
        given to it by the taxing jurisdiction in which the employee is 
        performing employment duties.
            (4) Out-of-state business.--The term ``out-of-state 
        business'' means, with respect to any tax jurisdiction, any 
        business entity which, excepting any employees of such business 
        who are working remotely within such jurisdiction during the 
        covered period, would not otherwise be subject to any tax 
        filing requirements under the existing law of such taxing 
        jurisdiction.
            (5) Primary work location.--The term ``primary work 
        location'' means, with respect to an employee, the address of 
        the employer where the employee is regularly assigned to work 
        when such employee is not working remotely during the covered 
        period.
            (6) Taxing jurisdiction.--The term ``taxing jurisdiction'' 
        means any of the several States, the District of Columbia, or 
        any territory or possession of the United States, any 
        municipality, city, county, township, parish, transportation 
        district, or assessment jurisdiction, or any other political 
        subdivision within the territorial limits of the United States 
        with the authority to impose a tax, charge, or fee.
            (7) Wages.--The term ``wages'' means all wages and other 
        remuneration paid to an employee that are subject to tax or 
        withholding requirements under the law of the taxing 
        jurisdiction in which the employment duties are deemed to be 
        performed under subsection (a) during the covered period.
            (8) Working remotely.--The term ``working remotely'' means 
        the performance of duties by an employee at a location other 
        than the primary work location of such employee at the 
        direction of his or her employer due to conditions resulting 
        from the public health emergency relating to the virus SARS-
        CoV-2 or coronavirus disease 2019 (referred to in this 
        paragraph as ``COVID-19''), including--
                    (A) to comply with any government order relating to 
                COVID-19;
                    (B) to prevent the spread of COVID-19; and
                    (C) due to the employee or a member of the 
                employee's family contracting COVID-19.
    (d) Preservation of Authority of Taxing Jurisdictions.--This 
section shall not be construed as modifying, impairing, superseding, or 
authorizing the modification, impairment, or supersession of the law of 
any taxing jurisdiction pertaining to taxation except as expressly 
provided in subsections (a) through (c).

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

    (a) Effective Date.--This Act shall apply to calendar years 
beginning after December 31, 2019.
    (b) Applicability.--This Act shall not apply to any tax obligation 
that accrues before January 1, 2020.
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