Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - Income Taxes › Chapter CHAPTER 1— - NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES › Subchapter Subchapter R— - Election To Determine Corporate Tax on Certain International Shipping Activities Using Per Ton Rate › § 1356
Says what ship-related work counts for these tax rules. “Qualifying shipping activities” means three kinds: core, qualifying secondary, and qualifying incidental activities. Core qualifying activities are running qualifying ships in trade between the United States and other countries. Qualifying secondary activities are other shipping work, but only if the money from those activities is no more than 20% of the money from core activities. Secondary activities include managing or running non-qualifying ships in U.S. foreign trade; providing vessel, barge, container, or cargo facilities or services; things that are part of running qualifying ships (like owning barges or containers, inland hauling for those ships, or terminal, repair, or logistics work); and any other activities the Secretary allows. Qualified incidental activities are minor shipping tasks that are not secondary, are tied to the core work, and bring in no more than 0.1% of core income. If a group of related companies elects in, the 20% and 0.1% limits are treated as if the group were one company and split among its members.
Full Legal Text
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 1356
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73