[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3234 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3234

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a temporary 
 income tax credit for commercial fishermen to offset high fuel costs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 9, 2008

 Ms. Murkowski (for herself and Mr. Stevens) 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 a temporary 
 income tax credit for commercial fishermen to offset high fuel costs.

    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 ``Fisheries Fuel Tax Relief Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY CREDIT AGAINST INCOME TAX FOR COMMERCIAL 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 45P the following new 
section:

``SEC. 45Q. TEMPORARY CREDIT FOR COMMERCIAL 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 the 
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 the trade or business of commercial fishing 
        (as defined in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
        Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1802)).
            ``(2) Creditable fuel.--The term `creditable fuel' means 
        gasoline and diesel fuel used as a fuel in a commercial vessel.
    ``(d) 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 (31), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (32) 
and inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(33) in the case of an eligible taxpayer (as defined in 
        section 45Q(c)), the excessive fuel cost credit determined 
        under section 45Q(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 45P the following new 
item:

``Sec. 45Q. Temporary credit for commercial 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>