# Lawmakers Scrutinize Meta Data Center Tax Credits

On October 15, 2026, a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that Meta’s data-center expenditures satisfy the statutory requirements for the federal research tax credit. The lawmakers argued that buying and deploying established equipment does not qualify as research simply because a data center is large or configured in a new way. The letter announces no procurement, award, or solicitation, but it highlights a distinction relevant to data-center project costs: experimental work versus routine construction and capital investment.

- Contractors and companies supporting data-center projects should distinguish experimental work from established-equipment purchases, deployment, and routine construction when evaluating research-tax-credit eligibility.
- Procurement teams can use clearly separated scopes and cost descriptions to distinguish research activities from capital investment in project planning and contractor documentation.
- The letter signals congressional scrutiny of how data-center expenditures are characterized for tax-credit purposes; it does not announce a change to the credit’s statutory requirements.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Regulatory Compliance, Digital Infrastructure
**Published:** October 15, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury)

### Sources
- [
	DelBene Leads Bipartisan Scrutiny of Meta’s Data Center Tax Credits | U.S. House of Representatives
](https://delbene.house.gov/news/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=4497) - Delbene