[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3944 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 Representatives 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 FISHERMEN TO OFFSET HIGH FUEL COSTS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter 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 eligible 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 creditable fuel, the amount 
                determined by the Secretary 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 average price for such 
                fuel for the region in which the taxpayer purchased 
                such fuel (as determined using data of the Energy 
                Information Agency of the Department of Energy).
                    ``(C) Inflation adjustment.--The inflation 
                adjustment shall be determined under the principles of 
                section 1(f); except that, the Secretary shall use 
                estimates of the monthly Consumer Price Index (as 
                defined in such section) where possible to more closely 
                reflect current inflation.
    ``(c) Eligible Taxpayer.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(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 business' 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 proprietorship, which would meet such test if such 
        proprietorship 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 sentence to the 
extent that 60 cents does not accurately reflect that value of the 
credit under this section.
    ``(e) Application of Section.--This section shall apply to fuels 
purchased during the 2-year period beginning 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 defined in 
        section 45N(c)), the excessive fuel cost credit 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 relating 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.
                                 <all>