II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1473 

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

against income for the purchase of fishing safety equipment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2005 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR PURCHASE OF FISHING SAFETY 

7 EQUIPMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub9 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
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1 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 

2 adding at the end the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45J. FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT CREDIT. 

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

5 in the case of an eligible taxpayer, the fishing safety equip6 ment credit determined under this section for the taxable 

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

8 equipment expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer dur9 ing the taxable year. 

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

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

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

13 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of this sec14 tion, the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ means a taxpayer en15 gaged in a fishing business. 

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

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

18 business’ means the conduct of commercial fishing 

19 as defined in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens 

20 Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 

21 U.S.C. 1802). 

22 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT

23 EXPENSES.— 

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

25 fishing safety equipment expenses’ means an 
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1 amount paid or incurred for fishing safety 

2 equipment for use by the taxpayer in connection 

3 with a fishing business. 

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

5 term ‘fishing safety equipment’ means— 

6 ‘‘(i) lifesaving equipment required to 

7 be carried by a vessel under section 4502 

8 of title 46, United States Code, and 

9 ‘‘(ii) any maintenance of such equip10 ment required under such section. 

11 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.— 

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

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

14 apply for purposes of this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treat16 ed as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) 

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

18 shall be treated as one person for purposes of sub19 section (a). 

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

21 shall be allowed under this chapter (other than a credit 

22 under this section) for any amount taken into account in 

23 determining the credit under this section. 

24 ‘‘(g) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes of this sub25 title, if a credit is allowed under this section with respect 
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1 to any equipment, the basis of such equipment shall be 

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

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

5 of 1986 (relating to general business credit) is 

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

7 (18), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 

8 (19) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the 

9 end the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(20) the fishing safety equipment credit deter11 mined under section 45J(a).’’. 

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

13 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para14 graph (30), by striking the period at the end of 

15 paragraph (31) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by add16 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(32) in the case of equipment with respect to 

18 which a credit was allowed under section 45J, to the 

19 extent provided in section 45J(g).’’. 

20 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

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

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add23 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45J. Fishing safety equipment credit.’’. 
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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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