[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1596-S1597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. Brown, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Barrasso, 
        Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, Ms. Cantwell, Ms. Collins, Ms. 
        Cortez Masto, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Ms. Ernst, Ms. Hassan, Mr. 
        Hoeven, Mr. Isakson, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. 
        Murray, Mr. Portman, Mr. Reed, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. 
        Tillis, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, 
        Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Peters, Mr. Risch, and Mr. 
        Lee):
  S. 604. A bill to limit the authority of States to tax certain income 
of employees for employment duties performed in other States; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 604

       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 ``Mobile Workforce State 
     Income Tax Simplification Act of 2019''.

     SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON STATE WITHHOLDING AND TAXATION OF 
                   EMPLOYEE INCOME.

       (a) In General.--No part of the wages or other remuneration 
     earned by an employee who performs employment duties in more 
     than one State shall be subject to income tax in any State 
     other than--

[[Page S1597]]

       (1) the State of the employee's residence; and
       (2) the State within which the employee is present and 
     performing employment duties for more than 30 days during the 
     calendar year in which the wages or other remuneration is 
     earned.
       (b) Wages or Other Remuneration.--Wages or other 
     remuneration earned in any calendar year shall not be subject 
     to State income tax withholding and reporting requirements 
     unless the employee is subject to income tax in such State 
     under subsection (a). Income tax withholding and reporting 
     requirements under subsection (a)(2) shall apply to wages or 
     other remuneration earned as of the commencement date of 
     employment duties in the State during the calendar year.
       (c) Operating Rules.--For purposes of determining penalties 
     related to an employer's State income tax withholding and 
     reporting requirements--
       (1) an employer may rely on an employee's annual 
     determination of the time expected to be spent by such 
     employee in the States in which the employee will perform 
     duties absent--
       (A) the employer's actual knowledge of fraud by the 
     employee in making the determination; or
       (B) collusion between the employer and the employee to 
     evade tax;
       (2) except as provided in paragraph (3), if records are 
     maintained by an employer in the regular course of business 
     that record the location of an employee, such records shall 
     not preclude an employer's ability to rely on an employee's 
     determination under paragraph (1); and
       (3) notwithstanding paragraph (2), if an employer, at its 
     sole discretion, maintains a time and attendance system that 
     tracks where the employee performs duties on a daily basis, 
     data from the time and attendance system shall be used 
     instead of the employee's determination under paragraph (1).
       (d) Definitions and Special Rules.--For purposes of this 
     Act:
       (1) Day.--
       (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an employee is 
     considered present and performing employment duties within a 
     State for a day if the employee performs more of the 
     employee's employment duties within such State than in any 
     other State during a day.
       (B) If an employee performs employment duties in a resident 
     State and in only one nonresident State during one day, such 
     employee shall be considered to have performed more of the 
     employee's employment duties in the nonresident State than in 
     the resident State for such day.
       (C) For purposes of this paragraph, the portion of the day 
     during which the employee is in transit shall not be 
     considered in determining the location of an employee's 
     performance of employment duties.
       (2) Employee.--The term ``employee'' has the same meaning 
     given to it by the State in which the employment duties are 
     performed, except that the term ``employee'' shall not 
     include a professional athlete, professional entertainer, 
     qualified production employee, or certain public figures.
       (3) Professional athlete.--The term ``professional 
     athlete'' means a person who performs services in a 
     professional athletic event, provided that the wages or other 
     remuneration are paid to such person for performing services 
     in his or her capacity as a professional athlete.
       (4) Professional entertainer.--The term ``professional 
     entertainer'' means a person of prominence who performs 
     services in the professional performing arts for wages or 
     other remuneration on a per-event basis, provided that the 
     wages or other remuneration are paid to such person for 
     performing services in his or her capacity as a professional 
     entertainer.
       (5) Qualified production employee.--The term ``qualified 
     production employee'' means a person who performs production 
     services of any nature directly in connection with a State 
     qualified, certified or approved film, television or other 
     commercial video production for wages or other remuneration, 
     provided that the wages or other remuneration paid to such 
     person are qualified production costs or expenditures under 
     such State's qualified, certified or approved film incentive 
     program, and that such wages or other remuneration must be 
     subject to withholding under such film incentive program as a 
     condition to treating such wages or other remuneration as a 
     qualified production cost or expenditure.
       (6) Certain public figures.--The term ``certain public 
     figures'' means persons of prominence who perform services 
     for wages or other remuneration on a per-event basis, 
     provided that the wages or other remuneration are paid to 
     such person for services provided at a discrete event, in the 
     nature of a speech, public appearance, or similar event.
       (7) Employer.--The term ``employer'' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 (26 U.S.C. 3401(d)), unless such term is defined by the 
     State in which the employee's employment duties are 
     performed, in which case the State's definition shall 
     prevail.
       (8) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the several 
     States.
       (9) Time and attendance system.--The term ``time and 
     attendance system'' means a system in which--
       (A) the employee is required on a contemporaneous basis to 
     record his work location for every day worked outside of the 
     State in which the employee's employment duties are primarily 
     performed; and
       (B) the system is designed to allow the employer to 
     allocate the employee's wages for income tax purposes among 
     all States in which the employee performs employment duties 
     for such employer.
       (10) Wages or other remuneration.--The term ``wages or 
     other remuneration'' may be limited by the State in which the 
     employment duties are performed.

     SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

       (a) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect on January 
     1 of the second calendar year that begins after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.
       (b) Applicability.--This Act shall not apply to any tax 
     obligation that accrues before the effective date of this 
     Act.
                                 ______