Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle D— - Miscellaneous Excise Taxes › Chapter CHAPTER 38— - ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES › Subchapter Subchapter B— - Tax on Certain Chemicals › § 4662
Imposes a tax on certain chemicals that are listed under section 4661(b) when they are made in the United States or brought into the United States for use, sale, or storage. Key words: "taxable chemical" — a substance on the 4661(b) list made or imported into the U.S.; "United States" — as defined in section 4612(a)(4); "importer" — the person who brings the chemical into the U.S.; "ton" — 2,000 pounds (for gases, the amount that equals 2,000 pounds by molecular weight); fractional tons are taxed proportionally. If a manufacturer, producer, or importer uses a taxable chemical instead of selling it, that person must pay the tax as if it were sold. When two companies swap inventory, the swap is not a sale only if both are registered as manufacturers/producers/importers and the receiver gives the sender its registration number and district. Lists many exceptions and special rules where the tax does not apply. Methane or butane are taxed only when they are used for something other than fuel or making motor/diesel/aviation/jet fuel. Nitric acid, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and methane used to make ammonia are not taxed when used as qualified fertilizer or animal feed ingredients, or when used to make those products; similar rules apply for certain chemicals when used to make or as qualified fuels (qualified fuel chemicals include acetylene, benzene, butylene, butadiene, ethylene, naphthalene, propylene, toluene, and xylene). Sulfuric acid made only as a byproduct at the same site as air pollution control equipment is exempt. Substances made from coal are not taxable. Certain chemicals present only briefly during smelting or refining (and listed metals or their solutions) are not taxed while they are part of the process. Xylene normally excludes separated isomers except for imports/exports. Chromium, cobalt, or nickel recovered from solid waste for recycling in the U.S. are exempt unless required cleanup at the recycling site is unfinished; groundwater cleanup can be treated as complete after a 10-year period if it meets the permit. Organic taxable chemicals in an intermediate hydrocarbon stream are not taxed while in the stream, but removing one is treated as a use and makes the remover the manufacturer. Exports are generally not taxed, and rules allow credits or refunds for taxes paid on exported chemicals under conditions that protect exporters and require proof or waivers. The Treasury Secretary must issue detailed rules to carry out these points. Finally, subsections (a)(3) and (b)(3) of section 7652 do not apply to taxes under section 4661.
Full Legal Text
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 4662
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73