I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5655 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish tax credits for 

personal locator beacons on certain vessels. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 

Ms. PEREZ 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 establish 

tax credits for personal locator beacons on certain vessels. 

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 ‘‘Bryson Fitch Fisher5 men Protection Act’’. 

6 SECTION 2. BUSINESS TAX CREDIT FOR LOCATOR BEA7 CONS. 

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 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45BB. LOCATOR BEACON CREDIT. 

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

5 the case of an eligible commercial fishing company, the 

6 personal locator beacon credit determined under this sec7 tion for any taxable year is an amount equal to 50 percent 

8 of the sum of— 

9 ‘‘(1) the basis of any qualified beacon placed in 

10 service by the taxpayer during such taxable year, 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(2) amounts paid by the taxpayer for the 

13 maintenance of any qualified beacon during such 

14 taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED BEACON.— 

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

18 beacon’ means a qualified emergency position19 indicating radio beacon or qualified personal lo20 cator beacon which is placed in service on board 

21 a qualified vessel. 

22 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED EMERGENCY POSITION23 INDICATING RADIO BEACON.—The term ‘quali24 fied emergency position-indicating radio beacon’ 


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1 means a device installed on an eligible vessel 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(i) transmits distress signals at a 

4 frequency between 406.0 and 406.1 MHz, 

5 ‘‘(ii) is manufactured by a company 

6 approved to manufacture beacons by the 

7 International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, 

8 ‘‘(iii) is registered with the United 

9 States National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

10 Administration, and 

11 ‘‘(iv) is acquired for use on commer12 cial fishing vessels by the taxpayer who 

13 owns or operates an eligible vessel. 

14 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED PERSONAL LOCATOR BEA15 CON.—The term ‘qualified personal locator bea16 con’ means a device designed to be carried by 

17 an individual that— 

18 ‘‘(i) transmits distress signals at a 

19 frequency between 406.0 and 406.1 MHz, 

20 ‘‘(ii) is manufactured by a company 

21 approved to manufacture beacons by the 

22 International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, 

23 ‘‘(iii) is registered with the United 

24 States National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

25 Administration, and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) is acquired for use on commer2 cial fishing vessels by the taxpayer who 

3 owns or operates an eligible vessel. 

4 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED VESSEL.—The term 

5 ‘qualified vessel’ means an eligible vessel which 

6 is equipped with at least 1 qualified personal lo7 cator beacon for each individual on board such 

8 vessel. 

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE COMMERCIAL FISHING COM10 PANY.—The term ‘eligible commercial fishing com11 pany’ means a business which owns or operates in 

12 the course of business any eligible vessel. 

13 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE VESSEL.—The term ‘eligible ves14 sel’ means a vessel described in paragraph (12), 

15 (13), or (14) of section 2101 of title 46, United 

16 States Code. 

17 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

18 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2028.’’. 

19 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

20 CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by strik21 ing ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (40), by striking the 

22 period at the end of paragraph (41) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, 

23 and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(42) in the case of an eligible commercial fish25 ing company (as defined in section 45BB), the locaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Sep 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5655.IH H5655

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1 tor beacon credit determined under section 

2 45BB(a).’’. 

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

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

5 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45BB. Locator beacon credit.’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to beacons placed in service in tax9 able years beginning after December 31, 2023. 

10 SEC. 3. PERSONAL TAX CREDIT FOR PURCHASE OF CER11 TAIN PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub13 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

14 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 

15 amended by inserting after section 25E the following new 

16 section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 25F. PERSONAL TAX CREDIT FOR PURCHASE OF CER18 TAIN PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in20 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

21 imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 

22 equal to 50 percent of the amounts paid or incurred by 

23 the taxpayer for the purchase of a qualified beacon during 

24 the taxable year. 

25 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED BEACON.—The term ‘qualified 

2 beacon’ means a beacon— 

3 ‘‘(A) described in subparagraph (B) or (C) 

4 of section 45BB(b)(1) (determined without re5 gard to subparagraphs (B)(iv) or (C)(iv) there6 of), and 

7 ‘‘(B) which is purchased by the taxpayer 

8 for use on an eligible vessel which is not a 

9 qualified vessel. 

10 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE VESSEL, QUALIFIED VESSEL.— 

11 The terms ‘eligible vessel’ and ‘qualified vessel’ have 

12 the meaning given such terms in section 

13 45BB(b)(1). 

14 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

15 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2028.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

17 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

18 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat19 ing to section 25E the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25F. Personal tax credit for purchase of certain personal locator beacons.’’. 

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

22 December 31, 2023. 

Æ 


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