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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Fishermen 
Safety Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR PURCHASE OF FISHING SAFETY 
EQUIPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 45G. FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 
in the case of an eligible taxpayer, the fishing safety equip-
ment credit determined under this section for the taxable 
year is 75 percent of the amount of qualified fishing safety 
equipment expenses paid or incurred by the taxpayer dur-
ing the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit 
allowed under subsection (a) with respect to a taxpayer 
for the taxable year shall not exceed $1,500. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ means a taxpayer en-
gaged in a fishing business. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) FISHING
BUSINESS.—The term ‘fishing 
business’ means the conduct of commercial fishing 
as defined in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens 
Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1802).
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT 
EXPENSES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
fishing safety equipment expenses’ means an 
amount paid or incurred for fishing safety 
equipment for use by the taxpayer in connection 
with a fishing business. 
‘‘(B) FISHING SAFETY EQUIPMENT.—The 
term ‘fishing safety equipment’ means—
‘‘(i) lifesaving equipment required to 
be carried by a vessel under section 4502 
of title 46, United States Code, and 
‘‘(ii) any maintenance of such equip-
ment required under such section. 
‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Rules similar to the rules 
of subsections (c), (d), and (e) of section 52 shall 
apply for purposes of this section. 
‘‘(2) AGGREGATION RULES.—All persons treat-
ed as a single employer under subsection (a) or (b) 
of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) of section 414 
shall be treated as one person for purposes of sub-
section (a). 
‘‘(f) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 
shall be allowed under this chapter (other than a credit
under this section) for any amount taken into account in 
determining the credit under this section. 
‘‘(g) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes of this sub-
title, if a credit is allowed under this section with respect 
to any equipment, the basis of such equipment shall be 
reduced by the amount of the credit so allowed.’’. 
(b) LIMITATION ON CARRYBACK.—Section 39(d) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to transition 
rules) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(11) NO
CARRYBACK
OF
FISHING
SAFETY 
EQUIPMENT CREDIT BEFORE EFFECTIVE DATE.—No 
portion of the unused business credit for any taxable 
year which is attributable to the fishing safety 
equipment credit determined under section 45G may 
be carried to a taxable year ending before the date 
of the enactment of section 45G.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 38(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 (relating to general business credit) is 
amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph 
(14), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
(15) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(16) the fishing safety equipment credit deter-
mined under section 45G(a).’’. 
(2) Subsection (a) of section 1016 of such Code 
is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (27), by striking the period at the end of 
paragraph (28) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by add-
ing at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(29) in the case of equipment with respect to 
which a credit was allowed under section 45G, to the 
extent provided in section 45G(g).’’. 
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 45F the following 
new item:
‘‘Sec. 45G. Fishing safety equipment credit.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2003.
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