Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
No.
Congress did not vote up-or-down on giving data center operators a $68 billion tax break, despite that claim in an ad targeting U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.
Tiffany, a northern Wisconsin Republican, is running for governor in the Nov. 3 election.
The ad from a Democratic Governors Association-backed group cites Tiffany’s 2025 vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
A yes vote on the nearly 900-page federal budget package, filled with hundreds of tax breaks and spending cuts, was not necessarily a yes vote for any single provision.
The bill contains business tax breaks, including ”100% depreciation. But they are available broadly, including for data centers, to deduct the cost of many investments.
A left-leaning think tank said four tech companies — Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon — avoided $68 billion in 2025 taxes from the depreciation and three other tax breaks in the bill.
This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Congress.gov: House Roll Call Vote 190
- Wisconsin Watch: Here are 6 claims about Donald Trump’s big bill — and the facts
- Joint Committee on Taxation: Letter
- Tax Foundation: FAQ: The One Big Beautiful Bill, Explained
- Politico: Corporate tax payments plunge as AI feasts on new incentives
- National Review: No, Republicans Did Not Give Data Centers a Special Tax Break
- BDO: 4 Key OBBBA Provisions Data Centers Need to Know
- Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: 391 companies avoided $174.9 billion in federal income tax on $1.3 trillion of profit in 2025
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