HR 10044
To impose a tax on artificial intelligence token usage and establish a Work Protection Administration within the Department of Labor, and for other purposes.
TL;DR
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) introduced a bill that would tax companies for every AI token they use (think: every word processed by ChatGPT-style tools) and create a new Work Protection Administration inside the Department of Labor. The revenue would fund programs protecting workers displaced by AI automation.
How This Might Impact Your Business
Companies using large language models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, custom LLMs) would face a new per-token tax, directly raising the cost of AI-powered products and internal AI tools.
Heavy AI users like customer service platforms, marketing tech, legal tech, coding assistants, and SaaS vendors with AI features would see the biggest cost increases.
A new Work Protection Administration inside the Department of Labor would create additional oversight of how companies deploy AI in ways that displace workers.
Enterprise AI budgets would need recalibration: a company spending $2M annually on API calls could see meaningful new tax exposure depending on the final rate (not yet specified in the bill text).
Vendors reselling AI capabilities (think Salesforce Einstein, Microsoft Copilot resellers) would likely pass costs through to customers, affecting procurement pricing.
The bill sits in the House Committee on Education and Workforce and Ways and Means, meaning it faces a long path and is unlikely to pass in current form, but signals a policy direction Democrats may revisit.
No specific effective date, penalty structure, or small business exemption is defined yet, leaving room for changes if the bill advances.
What Should You Do
Ask your finance team to quantify current annual AI token consumption across all vendors (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI) so you can model tax scenarios.
Have procurement review AI vendor contracts for pass-through tax clauses and cost escalation terms.
Flag this bill to your government affairs or trade association contacts, especially if you belong to groups like BSA, Chamber of Commerce, or ITI that lobby on AI policy.
Ask HR and legal to inventory AI deployments that reduce headcount or reassign work, since a new Work Protection Administration would likely scrutinize these.
Monitor committee activity in Ways and Means; the bill has not been scheduled for a hearing and remains early-stage.
Who It Affects
Sponsors
Status Timeline
committee
Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
August 6, 2026