I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3944 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a temporary credit 
against income tax to offset the high fuel costs of small businesses, 
farmers, and fishermen. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2005 
Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, 
Ms. SOLIS, Mrs. CAPPS, and Mr. GRIJALVA) 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 allow a 
temporary credit against income tax to offset the high 
fuel costs of small businesses, farmers, and fishermen. 
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 ‘‘Small Business Fuel 
Cost Relief Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. TEMPORARY CREDIT AGAINST INCOME TAX FOR 
SMALL BUSINESSES, FARMERS, AND FISHER-
MEN TO OFFSET HIGH FUEL COSTS. 
(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 
inserting after section 45M the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 45N. TEMPORARY CREDIT FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, 
FARMERS, AND FISHERMEN TO OFFSET HIGH 
FUEL COSTS. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli-
gible taxpayer, the excessive fuel cost credit determined 
under this section is an amount equal to the excessive fuel 
cost paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable 
year for any creditable fuel used in any trade or business 
of the taxpayer. 
‘‘(b) EXCESSIVE FUEL COST.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘excessive fuel 
cost’ means, with respect to any creditable fuel, the 
excess (if any) of— 
‘‘(A) the amount paid or incurred by the 
taxpayer for such fuel, over 
‘‘(B) the adjusted base price for such fuel. 
‘‘(2) ADJUSTED BASE PRICE.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘adjusted 
base price’ means, with respect to any cred-
itable fuel, the amount determined by the Sec-
retary to be the applicable Labor Day 2004 
price for such fuel adjusted for inflation. 
‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PRICE.—The applicable 
Labor Day 2004 price for any fuel is the aver-
age price for such fuel for the region in which 
the taxpayer purchased such fuel (as deter-
mined using data of the Energy Information 
Agency of the Department of Energy). 
‘‘(C) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—The infla-
tion adjustment shall be determined under the 
principles of section 1(f); except that, the Sec-
retary shall use estimates of the monthly Con-
sumer Price Index (as defined in such section) 
where possible to more closely reflect current 
inflation. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible taxpayer’ 
means any person engaged in a trade or business 
if— 
‘‘(A) such trade or business is—
‘‘(i) a farming business (as defined by 
section 263A(e)(4), or 
‘‘(ii) commercial fishing (as defined in 
section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 
U.S.C. 1802)), or 
‘‘(B) such person is a small business. 
‘‘(2) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘small busi-
ness’ means a corporation or partnership which 
meets the gross receipts test of section 448(c) for 
the taxable year (or, in the case of a sole proprietor-
ship, which would meet such test if such proprietor-
ship were a corporation). 
‘‘(3) CREDITABLE FUEL.—The term ‘creditable 
fuel’ means— 
‘‘(A) gasoline, 
‘‘(B) diesel fuel, 
‘‘(C) heating oil, and 
‘‘(D) natural gas. 
‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT OF STANDARD MILEAGE RATE.— 
An eligible taxpayer may elect, in lieu of the credit under 
this section, a standard mileage allowance under section 
162 equal to 60 cents for each mile traveled during the 
period described in subsection (e). The Secretary shall 
modify the standard mileage rate under the preceding sen-
tence to the extent that 60 cents does not accurately re-
flect that value of the credit under this section. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section shall 
apply to fuels purchased during the 2-year period begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 
(b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 
CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (23), 
by striking the period at the end of paragraph (24) and 
inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(25) in the case of an eligible taxpayer (as de-
fined in section 45N(c)), the excessive fuel cost cred-
it determined under section 45N(a).’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 45M the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 45N. Temporary credit for small businesses, farmers, and fishermen to 
offset high fuel costs.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
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