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Title 26, Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-110

§6718 Failure to Display Tax Registration on Vessels

Title 26 › Subtitle F — Procedure and Administration › CHAPTER 68 — ADDITIONS TO THE TAX, ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS, AND ASSESSABLE PENALTIES › Subchapter B — Assessable Penalties › PART I — GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 6718

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Boat operators must display proof of registration on their vessel. If they do not, they must pay $500 for each failure, and only one penalty can be charged for a given vessel in any calendar month. If the person already had prior monthly penalties (including on related people or previous businesses), the penalty is $500 times (1 plus the number of past penalties). No penalty applies if the failure was due to reasonable cause.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §6718

Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Failure to display registration
Every operator of a vessel who fails to display proof of registration pursuant to section 4101(a)(3) shall pay a penalty of $500 for each such failure. With respect to any vessel, only one penalty shall be imposed by this section during any calendar month.
(b)Multiple violations
In determining the penalty under subsection (a) on any person, subsection (a) shall be applied by increasing the amount in subsection (a) by the product of such amount and the aggregate number of penalties (if any) imposed with respect to prior months by this section on such person (or a related person or any predecessor of such person or related person).
(c)Reasonable cause exception
No penalty shall be imposed under this section with respect to any failure if it is shown that such failure is due to reasonable cause.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108–357, § 862(b), substituted “section 4101(a)(3)” for “section 4101(a)(2)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2004 AmendmentAmendment by section 862(b) of Pub. L. 108–357 effective Jan. 1, 2005, see section 862(c) of Pub. L. 108–357, set out as a note under section 4101 of this title.

Effective Date

Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 861(c)(2), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1619, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by subsection (b) [enacting this section] shall apply to penalties imposed after December 31, 2004.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 6718

Title 26, Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110