[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3206 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3206

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax relief to 
                 areas affected by toxic algal blooms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 12, 2018

  Mr. Nelson 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 tax relief to 
                 areas affected by toxic algal blooms.

    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 ``Toxic Algae Tax Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. TOXIC ALGAE ZONE DEDUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (n); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (l) the following:
    ``(m) Special Deduction for Losses Attributable to a Toxic Algae 
Zone.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this section, in the case of a taxpayer who operates a 
        qualified trade or business in a toxic algae zone, there shall 
        be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to--
                    ``(A) the average qualified net profits of such 
                trade or business during the period of the 3 taxable 
                years preceding the taxable year in which a qualified 
                incident occurred, minus
                    ``(B) the qualified net profits of such trade or 
                business during the taxable year in which such 
                qualified event occurred.
            ``(2) Additional deduction.--The deduction allowed under 
        this subsection shall be in addition to any deduction allowed 
        under subsection (a).
            ``(3) Year of election.--For purposes of the deduction 
        allowed under this subsection, such deduction may, at the 
        election of the taxpayer, be claimed in--
                    ``(A) the taxable year in which the qualified 
                incident occurred, or
                    ``(B) the taxable year immediately preceding the 
                taxable year described in subparagraph (A).
            ``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Qualified incident.--The term `qualified 
                incident' means any act or event that exposes an area 
                to toxic algal blooms, as determined by the Secretary 
                in consultation with the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration.
                    ``(B) Qualified net profits.--The term `qualified 
                net profits' means the net profits of a qualified trade 
                or business which is properly attributable to 
                activities of such trade or business within a toxic 
                algae zone.
                    ``(C) Qualified trade or business.--The term 
                `qualified trade or business' means a trade or business 
                that meets the gross receipts test under subsection (c) 
                of section 448.
                    ``(D) State.--The term `State' means any of the 
                several States, the District of Columbia, or any 
                territory or possession of the United States.
                    ``(E) Toxic algae zone.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `toxic algae 
                        zone' means any census tract or political 
                        subdivision of a State which has been 
                        designated by the Secretary, in consultation 
                        with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                        Administration, as experiencing economic 
                        hardship which is directly attributable to a 
                        qualified incident.
                            ``(ii) Limitation.--A census tract or 
                        political subdivision of a State may not be 
                        designated as a toxic algae zone for a period 
                        of consecutive years in excess of 3 years.
                    ``(F) Toxic algal bloom.--The term `toxic algal 
                bloom' means the existence of algae on or near the 
                surface of water in quantities sufficient to cause 
                anoxic conditions in such water.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
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