PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 5, 2025
Broadening Online Opportunities through Simple Technologies Act or the BOOST Act
This bill establishes a new refundable tax credit, through 2029, for expenses paid to purchase a Wi-Fi signal booster for use in a principal residence. (Some limitations apply.)
The bill allows a taxpayer located in an unserved area a one-time, refundable tax credit for 75% (up to $400) of expenses paid to purchase
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
a communications signal booster (any device that receives a wireless signal or a commercial data service signal in order to increase the strength or range of the signal and in connection with retransmitting a broadband internet access service signal),
any customer premises equipment for use with satellite networks, or
any ground station equipment to send and receive transmissions from satellite networks.
Under the bill, an unserved area is defined as an area eligible for certain funding under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (generally areas where internet speeds are below 25 megabits per second for downloading and 3 megabits per second for uploading).
Finally, under the bill, the Department of the Treasury is required to issue regulations and guidance on the new tax credit and a program for sellers of signal boosters to voluntarily report sales of such devices in unserved areas.
People & committees
Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-2] · R–MI
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: May 22, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.1020 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.1020 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.1020 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.1020 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-05 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed BOOST Act would give individuals a tax credit for buying certain signal boosters or satellite equipment for their main home in qualifying unserved areas. A tax credit reduces a person's tax bill. The proposal would cover 75% of up to $400 in qualifying purchases, for a maximum credit of $300. Each taxpayer could use it for only one tax year.
This Act may be cited as the Broadening Online Opportunities through Simple Technologies Act or the BOOST Act.
In the case of an individual who elects the application of this section, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount equal to 75 percent of so much of the qualified signal booster expenditures of the taxpayer for the taxable year as does not exceed $400.
The term qualified signal booster expenditures means amounts paid or incurred by the taxpayer for the purchase of— (A) any communications signal booster, (B) any customer premises equipment for use with satellite networks, and (C) any ground station equipment to send and receive transmissions from satellite networks, for use by the taxpayer in a principal residence (within the meaning of section 121) of the taxpayer which is located in an unserved area.
An election by the taxpayer to have this section apply may not be made for any taxable year if such an election is in effect for the taxpayer for any preceding taxable year.
Eligible purchases would include communications signal boosters, equipment at the customer's location for satellite networks, and ground equipment that sends and receives satellite transmissions. The equipment would have to be for the taxpayer's use in their main home in an eligible area.
The term qualified signal booster expenditures means amounts paid or incurred by the taxpayer for the purchase of— (A) any communications signal booster, (B) any customer premises equipment for use with satellite networks, and (C) any ground station equipment to send and receive transmissions from satellite networks, for use by the taxpayer in a principal residence (within the meaning of section 121) of the taxpayer which is located in an unserved area.
A qualifying signal booster would have to be first used by the taxpayer. It would have to receive a wireless or commercial mobile data signal to increase its strength or range in connection with retransmitting broadband internet service.
The term communications signal booster means a device the first use of which is with the taxpayer and that receives a wireless signal, or a commercial mobile data service (as defined in section 6001 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1401)) signal— (A) in order to increase the strength or range of such signal, and (B) in connection with retransmitting a broadband internet access service signal.
An 'unserved area' would mean an area eligible for phase 1 or phase 2 funding under the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, as established in its January 30, 2020 order. Eligibility would therefore depend on that program's geographic rules.
The term unserved area means an area eligible for funding under phase 1 or phase 2 of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund established by the Federal Communications Commission in the Report and Order in the matter of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Connect America Fund that was adopted by the Commission on January 30, 2020 (FCC 20–5).
The proposal would use the definition of broadband internet access service in the cited federal regulation, or any regulation that replaces it.
The term broadband internet access service has the meaning given such term in section 8.1(b) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).
Individuals would have to choose to apply the credit. Once a taxpayer had chosen it for one tax year, they could not choose it again for a later year.
In the case of an individual who elects the application of this section, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year
An election by the taxpayer to have this section apply may not be made for any taxable year if such an election is in effect for the taxpayer for any preceding taxable year.
The Secretary would have to issue necessary regulations and guidance in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission. This would include a program allowing businesses selling eligible equipment to voluntarily report sales in unserved areas.
The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission, prescribe such regulations, and provide such other guidance, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section including a program for persons engaged in the trade or business of selling communications signal boosters, or any other equipment described in subsection (b)(1), to voluntarily report any such sale in an unserved area.
The amendments would apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. The credit would not apply to expenses paid or incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2029. For taxpayers whose tax years follow the calendar year, this would cover 2026 through 2029, subject to the one-year limit.
The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
This section shall not apply to any amounts paid or incurred in any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2029.
An election by the taxpayer to have this section apply may not be made for any taxable year if such an election is in effect for the taxpayer for any preceding taxable year.
The bill would also add a reference to the new credit, section 36C, in section 1324(b) of title 31 of the United States Code. The supplied text does not reproduce that existing provision.
Section 1324(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 36C, after 36B,.
The supplied action snapshot, updated May 22, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 5, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-05-22T15:27:33Z. 2025-02-05: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. 2025-02-05: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-05. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No separate narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The credit's ordinary eligibility rules define its intended beneficiaries. This conclusion is limited to this version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: May 22, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI