Telework
Congressman Tom Perriello has introduced a bill, H.R. 3627, the Rural and Small Town Telework Tax Credit Act of 2009, to help spur growth of technology jobs in rural areas and small towns. The bill would provide a tax credit for the cost of teleworking equipment and expenses for businesses that hire employees in rural and small town America.
“We’ve watched as thousands of high-tech jobs have gone overseas. If a company can hire a phone operator in India, why can’t they hire an American worker in Martinsville?” said Perriello. “We may not be able to get some of the big factories back that have gone overseas but this is one way to use new technologies to help create jobs for Americans in our rural areas and small towns.”
Under the bill, a $1,000 tax credit would be applied per teleworking employee up to a maximum of $50,000. This tax credit would only apply to teleworking employees in rural and small town areas. This would be done by limiting the tax credit to qualified teleworking employees in three areas: metropolitan areas with a population less than 200,000, micropolitan areas (population between 10,000 and 50,0000), and rural areas outside of either metropolitan or micropolitan areas.
The Telework Coalition, the nation’s leading telework education and advocacy organization, announced its support for the legislation. “We have long championed the idea that telework is a key component of rural economic development by bringing jobs to people instead of people having to travel long distances to get to jobs. With the implementation of the National Broadband Plan assuring that more Americans will have access to broadband networks, Rep. Perriello’s timing couldn’t have been better,” said Chuck Wilsker, President & CEO of the Telework Coalition.
