RAFT (Restore Access to Foreign Trade) Act of 2003

RAFT (Restore Access to Foreign Trade) Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to redefine the term "foreign base company shipping income" to include income derived from, or in connection with, the use of "any aircraft or petroleum vessel in foreign commerce....". (Currently, the term is defined to include income derived from, or in connection with, the use of "any aircraft or vessel in foreign commerce....".) Defines the term "petroleum vessel."

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 772 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 772

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that foreign base 
  company shipping income shall include only income from aircraft and 
    income from certain vessels transporting petroleum and related 
                               products.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2003

  Mr. Weller 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 provide that foreign base 
  company shipping income shall include only income from aircraft and 
    income from certain vessels transporting petroleum and related 
                               products.

    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 ``RAFT (Restore Access to Foreign 
Trade) Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MOST VESSEL SHIPPING INCOME FROM FOREIGN BASE 
              COMPANY INCOME.

    (a) Foreign Base Company Shipping Income To Include Only Income 
From Aircraft and Petroleum Vessels.--Subsection (f) of section 954 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to foreign base company 
income) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``petroleum'' before ``vessel'' each place 
        it appears, and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``For 
        purposes of this subsection, the term `petroleum vessel' means 
        any vessel engaged in the carriage of petroleum or related 
        products or byproducts if the controlled group (as defined in 
        section 267(f)(1) without regard to section 1563(b)(2)(C)) of 
        which the taxpayer is a member is engaged principally in the 
        trade or business of exploring for, or extracting, refining or 
        marketing of, petroleum or related products or byproducts.''
    (b) Retention of Separate Foreign Tax Credit Basket for All 
Shipping Income.--Subparagraph (D) of section 904(d)(2) of such Code is 
amended by striking ``(as defined in section 954(f))'' and inserting 
``, as defined in section 954(f), if references in such section to 
petroleum vessels included references to all vessels''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years of foreign corporations beginning after December 
31, 2002, and to taxable years of United States shareholders (within 
the meaning of section 951(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) 
within which or with which such taxable years of such foreign 
corporations end.
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