I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2973

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a business credit 

against income for the purchase of fishing safety equipment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. SIMMONS (for himself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. 

ALLEN, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. PAUL, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GREEN of 

Wisconsin, and Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

a business credit against income for the purchase of 

fishing safety equipment.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Fishermen 

5 Safety Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR PURCHASE OF FISHING SAFETY 

2 EQUIPMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 45G. FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT CREDIT. 

8 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

9 in the case of an eligible taxpayer, the fishing safety equip10 ment credit determined under this section for the taxable 

11 year is 75 percent of the amount of qualified fishing safety 

12 equipment expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer dur13 ing the taxable year. 

14 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit 

15 allowed under subsection (a) with respect to a taxpayer 

16 for the taxable year shall not exceed $1,500. 

17 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of this sec18 tion, the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ means a taxpayer en19 gaged in a fishing business. 

20 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

21 ‘‘(1) FISHING BUSINESS.—The term ‘fishing 

22 business’ means the conduct of commercial fishing 

23 as defined in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

24 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

25 U.S.C. 1802). 
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1 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT

2 EXPENSES.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

4 fishing safety equipment expenses’ means an 

5 amount paid or incurred for fishing safety 

6 equipment for use by the taxpayer in connection 

7 with a fishing business. 

8 ‘‘(B) FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT.—The 

9 term ‘fishing safety equipment’ means—

10 ‘‘(i) lifesaving equipment required to 

11 be carried by a vessel under section 4502 

12 of title 46, United States Code, and 

13 ‘‘(ii) any maintenance of such equip14 ment required under such section. 

15 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Rules similar to the rules 

17 of subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 52 shall 

18 apply for purposes of this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treat20 ed as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) 

21 of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 

22 shall be treated as one person for purposes of sub23 section (a). 

24 ‘‘(f) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

25 shall be allowed under this chapter (other than a credit 
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1 under this section) for any amount taken into account in 

2 determining the credit under this section. 

3 ‘‘(g) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes of this sub4 title, if a credit is allowed under this section with respect 

5 to any equipment, the basis of such equipment shall be 

6 reduced by the amount of the credit so allowed.’’. 

7 (b) LIMITATION ON CARRYBACK.—Section 39(d) of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to transition 

9 rules) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(11) NO CARRYBACK OF FISHING SAFETY

12 EQUIPMENT CREDIT BEFORE EFFECTIVE DATE.—No 

13 portion of the unused business credit for any taxable 

14 year which is attributable to the fishing safety 

15 equipment credit determined under section 45G may 

16 be carried to a taxable year ending before the date 

17 of the enactment of section 45G.’’. 

18 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 

20 of 1986 (relating to general business credit) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph 

22 (14), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 

23 (15) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the 

24 end the following new paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(16) the fishing safety equipment credit deter2 mined under section 45G(a).’’. 

3 (2) Subsection (a) of section 1016 of such Code 

4 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para5 graph (27), by striking the period at the end of 

6 paragraph (28) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by add7 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(29) in the case of equipment with respect to 

9 which a credit was allowed under section 45G, to the 

10 extent provided in section 45G(g).’’. 

11 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

13 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in14 serting after the item relating to section 45F the following 

15 new item:

‘‘Sec. 45G. Fishing safety equipment credit.’’.

16 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

18 December 31, 2003.

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