How would anyone know you have been working out of state / out of country? Has anyone been caught out by being tracked by their ip address when logging into the corporate VPN?
Whether or not they let the IRS use it is another matter, but the data is there.
Each country has different rules around how this happens and the legal definition of a primary residence.
For most cases this is automatically triggered when you haven't spent 6 months out of the year at what you're claiming to be your primary residence.
Let's say you travel 80% of the year for work.
- Where is your work located? - Where is your employment state your primary residence is? - Does your partner live where you're claiming to be your primary residence? - Do you have kids that you can make the case that the place is your primary residence? - Are you stating your primary residence in another country & can provide proof you're paying taxes there (Ok, this is different for the USA)
You get the point, they look at the factors and honestly the government doesn't pay much attention to this unless they think you're evading taxes that you should be paying.
Keep in mind, the folks you mention (“nomads, transnationals, solopreneurs, cloud-based operators“) are a minority in the US, and will continue to be so even into the future. I know many expats who navigate US tax code without too much trouble, although there is room for streamlining revenue accounting and collection mechanisms.