H.R. 1020 — BOOST Act

This section provides the short title of the Act as the “Broadening Online Opportunities through Simple Technologies Act” or the “BOOST Act.”

This section establishes a new broadband Internet communications signal booster tax credit under section 36C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The credit equals 75 percent of qualified signal booster expenditures up to $400, for a maximum credit of $300 per taxpayer, and applies only if the taxpayer elects the credit for the taxable year. As background, the credit is available to individuals for equipment used in a principal residence located in an unserved area, meaning an area eligible for funding under phase 1 or phase 2 of the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. Qualified expenditures include: (1) communications signal boosters, (2) customer premises equipment for use with satellite networks, and (3) ground station equipment to send and receive transmissions from satellite networks. A communications signal booster is a device first used by the taxpayer that receives a wireless signal or a commercial mobile data service signal under 47 U.S.C. § 1401 and retransmits a broadband Internet access service signal to increase the strength or range of that signal. This section limits the credit to one taxable year per taxpayer by prohibiting a new election for any taxable year if the election was in effect for any preceding taxable year. It also directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission, to issue regulations and guidance, including a voluntary reporting program for sellers of signal boosters and related equipment in unserved areas. This section terminates the credit for amounts paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2029, and applies the new credit to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.