Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2315, the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2015, which is an important bipartisan bill that will help workers and small businesses across the country.

As a proud sponsor of this legislation in both the 110th and 111th Congresses, I am very familiar with this issue.

H.R. 2315 would provide for a uniform and easily administrable law that will simplify the patchwork of existing inconsistent and confusing State rules. It would also reduce administrative costs to the States and lessen compliance burdens on consumers.

From a national perspective, the mobile workforce bill will vastly simplify the patchwork of existing inconsistent and confusing State rules. It would also reduce administrative costs to States and lessen compliance burdens on consumers.

Take my home State of Georgia as an example. If an Atlanta-based employee of a St. Louis company travels to headquarters on a business trip once a year, that employee would be subject to Missouri tax, even if his annual visit only lasts a day. However, if that employee travels to Maine, her trip would only be subject to tax if her trip lasts for 10 days. If she travels to New Mexico on business, she would only be subject to tax if she was in the State for 15 days.

For example, in Georgia, Acuity Brands is a leading lighting manufacturer that employs over 1,000 associates and has over 3,200 associates nationwide who travel extensively across the country for training, conferences, and other business.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter in support of H.R. 2315. Acuity Brands, Conyers, GA, September 19, 2016. Re H.R. 2315, the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act. Hon. Hank Johnson, Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Johnson: We are writing to express our strong support for H.R. 2315, the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act, and urge you to support the legislation when the bill is considered by the House this week.

H.R. 2315, which would establish unified, clear rules and definitions for nonresident personal income tax reporting and withholding, is supported by 300+ organizations comprising the Mobile Workforce Coalition, and has over 170 bipartisan co-sponsors. The bill was approved by the House Judiciary Committee in June 2015, and a nearly identical version of the legislation was passed by voice vote in the House during the 112th Congress (H.R. 1864).

Acuity Brands, Inc. is one of the leading manufacturers of lighting and controls equipment in the world. We are a U.S. corporation based in Georgia with offices, manufacturing facilities, and training centers across the United States. We employee over 4,000 associates in the United States, and our fiscal year 2015 net sales totaled over $2.7 billion.

Acuity Brands is a large multinational company with locations in many states and customers in all 50 states, which requires a large number of our associates to travel outside of their respective states of residency in order to properly manage and grow our business. Our associates travel all over the country for training, conferences, intracompany business, and volunteer activities for communities or non- for-profit entities. Many of these activities contribute to the economy of those non-resident states. Our associates, some of the country's foremost experts on matters impacting the lighting industry, also travel at the invitation of state legislators and regulators to provide testimony and technical expertise on energy-related issues.

Given the extensive travel required of our associates, some of which is done at the behest of others, the current state- by-state system of nonresident personal income tax reporting and withholding imposes substantial operational and administrative burdens on Acuity Brands and our associates. The current requirements vary by state and are often changing, which presents significant compliance challenges. Furthermore, state laws are not always clear on what constitutes work travel or work days, or what exclusions apply. Thus, significant resources are expended trying to interpret various states' requirements and then attempting to satisfy them.

H.R. 2315 would simplify the current system and greatly reduce the burden on Acuity Brands and other businesses. Unified, simple rules and definitions for nonresident reporting and withholding obligations would undoubtedly improve compliance rates and it would strike the correct balance between state sovereignty and ensuring that America's modern mobile workforce is not unduly encumbered.

In light of the foregoing, we would sincerely appreciate your support on this legislation.

Thank you very much for your consideration. Sincerely, Cheryl English, VP, Government & Industry Relations, Acuity Brands.

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Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. In a letter, Richard Reece, Acuity's executive vice president, writes that current State laws are numerous, varied, and often changing, requiring that the company expend significant resources merely interpreting and satisfying States' requirements.

He concludes that:

Unified, clear rules and definitions for nonresident reporting and withholding obligations would undoubtedly improve compliance rates, and it would strike the correct balance between State sovereignty and ensuring that America's modern mobile workforce is not unduly encumbered.

We should heed the calls of Acuity and numerous other businesses across the country by enacting H.R. 2315 into law. With over 175 cosponsors this Congress, it is clear that mobile workforce is an idea whose time has come.

I thank my colleagues for their work on the bill, and, in particular, Congressman Bishop of Michigan for his leadership on this bill in the 114th Congress; also Chairman Goodlatte for allowing this bill to come to the floor. Congressman Bishop has carried the torch for our esteemed former colleague, the late Howard Coble, who fought alongside me in support of this bill when it passed out of the House by a voice vote in the 112th Congress.

I also thank our staffs who have worked tirelessly to build support for this legislation along bipartisan lines. This bill is a testament to the good that can come from working across the aisle on bipartisan tax fairness reforms.

I am optimistic that the passage of H.R. 2315 augers well for the passage of e-fairness legislation, which is critical to countless small businesses across the country this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to bring this bill up for a vote as soon as possible. This country's employees and businesses deserve quick action.

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