Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle A— Income Taxes › Chapter 1— NORMAL TAXES AND SURTAXES › Subchapter R— Election To Determine Corporate Tax on Certain International Shipping Activities Using Per Ton Rate › § 1356
Defines which shipping work counts for the tax rules. It says qualifying shipping activities include three kinds: core, qualifying secondary, and qualified incidental. Core activities mean running ships that operate in United States foreign trade. Qualifying secondary activities are other shipping businesses that support that core work but only count if the money they make is no more than 20 percent of the money from the core activities. Secondary examples include managing other ships, providing vessel/barge/container/cargo facilities or services, owning or operating supporting equipment (like barges, containers, chassis), moving cargo inland for those ships, and terminal, maintenance, repair, or logistics work, plus any other activities the Treasury adds by regulation. Qualified incidental activities are other shipping-related tasks that are minor, are not secondary activities, and bring in no more than 0.1 percent of the core activity income. If a group of related companies elects together, the 20 percent and 0.1 percent limits are figured for the group as one entity and then split among the companies.
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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 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60