[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1034 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1034

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a moratorium 
  for the excise tax on diesel fuel sold for or used in noncommercial 
diesel-powered motorboats and to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
  to study the effectiveness of procedures to collect excise taxes on 
         sales of diesel fuel for noncommercial motorboat use.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 14 (legislative day, July 10), 1995

Mr. Breaux (for himself and Mr. Chafee) 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 for a moratorium 
  for the excise tax on diesel fuel sold for or used in noncommercial 
diesel-powered motorboats and to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
  to study the effectiveness of procedures to collect excise taxes on 
         sales of diesel fuel for noncommercial motorboat use.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. MORATORIUM FOR EXCISE TAX ON DIESEL FUEL SOLD FOR USE OR 
              USED IN DIESEL-POWERED MOTORBOATS.

    (a) Section 4041 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
the imposition of tax on diesel fuel and special motor fuels), as 
amended by section 13163 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 
1993, is amended by deleting subparagraph (D) of section 4041(a)(1) and 
substituting the following new subparagraph (D):
                    ``(D) Diesel fuel used in motorboats.--
                            ``(i) Moratorium.--No tax shall be imposed 
                        by subsection (a) or (d)(1) on diesel fuel sold 
                        for use or used in a diesel-powered motorboat 
                        during the period after (the day before the 
                        date of enactment), and before (the date 2 
                        years after the date of enactment).
                            ``(ii) Special termination date.--In the 
                        case of any sale for use, or use, of fuel in a 
                        diesel-powered motorboat--
                                    ``(I) effective during the period 
                                after September 30, 1999, and before 
                                January 1, 2000, the rate of tax 
                                imposed by this paragraph is 24.3 cents 
                                per gallon, and
                                    ``(II) the termination of the tax 
                                under subsection (d) shall not occur 
                                before January 1, 2000.''
    (b) Technical Amendments.--
            (1) Part II of subchapter B of chapter 68 of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating section 6714 
        (relating to dyed fuel sold for use or used in taxable use, et 
        cetera), as added by section 13242 of the Omnibus Budget 
        Reconciliation Act of 1993, as section 6715.
            (2) The table of sections for such part is amended by 
        redesignating the item relating to section 6714 (relating to 
        dyed fuel sold for use or used in taxable use, etc.), as added 
        by section 13242 of such Act, as section 6715.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of enactment.

SEC. 2. TREASURY STUDY OF EFFECTIVE PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTING TAX ON 
              THE SALE OF DIESEL FUEL FOR NONCOMMERCIAL MOTORBOAT USE.

    (a) General Rule.--The Secretary of the Treasury (or his delegate) 
shall study the effectiveness of various procedures for collecting 
excise taxes imposed on diesel fuel sold for use or used in a 
noncommercial diesel-powered motorboat. In studying the effectiveness 
of possible collection procedures, the Secretary (or his delegate) 
shall examine the administrative burdens of each procedure on and 
consult with noncommercial boat users and marine fuel retailers and the 
effect of each procedure on the availability of diesel fuel to all boat 
users as well as any enforcement considerations. The following four 
collection procedures shall specifically be studied, although the 
Secretary (or his delegate) may study other collection procedures:
            (1) The collection procedure under current law, which 
        imposed tax upon the removal of diesel fuel from a petroleum 
        terminal and under no circumstances allows a marine fuel 
        retailer to sell dyed diesel fuel to a noncommercial boat user.
            (2) A collection procedure which would allow a marine fuel 
        retailer to sell dyed diesel fuel to a noncommercial boat user 
        provided the retailer collected the tax from the user and 
        remitted the tax to the Internal Revenue Service.
            (3) A collection procedure which would allow a marine fuel 
        retailer to sell dyed diesel fuel to a noncommercial boat user 
        but would require the user to remit the taxes due directly to 
        the Internal Revenue Service.
            (4) A collection procedure which would allow (but not 
        require) a marine fuel retailer to sell undyed diesel fuel to 
        exempt commercial boat users and then to apply for refunds on 
        those sales from the Internal Revenue Service in a manner 
        similar to the current procedure under section 6427(1)(5) of 
        the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for sales to farmers and 
        State and local governments.
    (b) Report.--Not later than (the date 18 months after the date of 
enactment), the Secretary (or his delegate) shall submit to the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Finance of the Senate a report on the study conducted 
under subsection (a), together with such recommendations as he may deem 
advisable.
                                 <all>