Hawley Moves to Bar Data Centers From 2017 Opportunity Zone Tax Breaks

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 16

Josh Hawley plans legislation to explicitly exclude data centers from Opportunity Zone tax benefits, targeting what he called a loophole tech companies use to finance projects in low-income areas.
The Missouri Republican said the incentive, created in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and made permanent last year, has become "corporate welfare" by letting companies defer, reduce or eliminate gains taxes.
8,746 Opportunity Zones now exist nationwide, with just under half in rural areas; a National Community Reinvestment Coalition report said 14% of data centers and more than 17% of planned or active projects sit in those zones.
The proposal lands as Republicans debate data centers' role in the AI buildout and Congress again faces pressure to set AI guardrails after years of limited legislative action.