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Title 46 — ShippingRelease 119-73not60

§60301 Regular Tonnage Taxes

Title 46 › Subtitle Subtitle VI— Clearance, Tonnage Taxes, and Duties › Chapter 603— TONNAGE TAXES AND LIGHT MONEY › § 60301

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Charges a tax on ships each time they enter a U.S. port. Ships coming from nearby foreign places (North and Central America, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, and the South American coast next to the Caribbean) or ships returning to the same U.S. port pay 4.5 cents per ton per entry, but no more than 22.5 cents per ton in a year for fiscal years 2006 through 2010. After those years the rate is 2 cents per ton per entry, capped at 10 cents per ton per year. U.S. ships, recreational boats (see section 2101), and barges are not covered by that rule. Ships from other foreign ports pay higher amounts: 13.5 cents per ton per entry, capped at 67.5 cents per ton per year for fiscal years 2006–2010, and 6 cents per ton per entry, capped at 30 cents per ton per year after that. The lower-rate rule does not apply if a ship arrives by a means other than by sea from a foreign place that does not charge U.S. vessels tonnage, lighthouse, or similar taxes.

Full Legal Text

Title 46, §60301

Shipping — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A tax is imposed at the rate of 4.5 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 22.5 cents per ton per year, for fiscal years 2006 through 2010, and 2 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 10 cents per ton per year, for each fiscal year thereafter, at each entry in a port of the United States of—
(1)a vessel entering from a foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the West Indies Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or the coast of South America bordering the Caribbean Sea; or
(2)a vessel returning to the same port or place in the United States from which it departed, and not entering the United States from another port or place, except—
(A)a vessel of the United States;
(B)a recreational vessel (as defined in section 2101 of this title); or
(C)a barge.
(b)A tax is imposed at the rate of 13.5 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 67.5 cents per ton per year, for fiscal years 2006 through 2010, and 6 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 30 cents per ton per year, for each fiscal year thereafter, on a vessel at each entry in a port of the United States from a foreign port or place not named in subsection (a)(1).
(c)Subsection (a) does not apply to a vessel entering other than by sea from a foreign port or place at which tonnage, lighthouse, or other equivalent taxes are not imposed on vessels of the United States.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 60301(a)46 App.:121 (2d sentence words before semicolon).Aug. 5, 1909, ch. 6, § 36 (1st sentence), 36 Stat. 111; Pub. L. 101–508, title X, § 10402(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–398; Pub. L. 103–66, title IX, § 9001(a)(1), (2), (c)(1), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 402; Pub. L. 105–33, title IX, § 9201(a), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 671. 60301(b)46 App.:121 (2d sentence words after semicolon). 60301(c)46 App.:132.Mar. 8, 1910, ch. 86, 36 Stat. 234; Pub. L. 101–508, title X, § 10402(b), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–399; Pub. L. 103–66, title IX, § 9001(b), Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 402; Pub. L. 105–33, title IX, § 9201(b), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 671. In this section, the tax rates for fiscal years 1991 through 2002 are omitted as obsolete. In subsection (a)(1), the words “West Indies Islands” are substituted for “West India Islands” to conform to current geographic terminology. The word “Newfoundland” is omitted because Newfoundland is now part of Canada. In subsection (a)(2), the reference to the definitions in section 2101 is confined to “recreational vessel” because the definitions of “vessel of the United States” and “barge” are being moved to chapter 1 of the revised title and being made applicable title-wide.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2008—Pub. L. 110–181, § 3524(b), repealed Pub. L. 109–171, § 4001. See 2006 Amendment note below. Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 110–181, § 3524(a)(1), incorporated the substance of the amendment by Pub. L. 109–171, § 4001, into this section by substituting “4.5 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 22.5 cents per ton per year, for fiscal years 2006 through 2010, and 2 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 10 cents per ton per year, for each fiscal year thereafter,” for “2 cents per ton (but not more than a total of 10 cents per ton per year)” in subsec. (a) and “13.5 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 67.5 cents per ton per year, for fiscal years 2006 through 2010, and 6 cents per ton, not to exceed a total of 30 cents per ton per year, for each fiscal year thereafter,” for “6 cents per ton (but not more than a total of 30 cents per ton per year)” in subsec. (b). See 2006 Amendment note below and section 18(a) of Pub. L. 109–304, set out as a Legislative Purpose and

Construction

note preceding section 101 of this title. 2006—Pub. L. 109–171, § 4001, which directed the amendment of section 121 and 132 of the former Appendix to this title from which this section was derived, was repealed by Pub. L. 110–181, § 3524(b). See 2008 Amendment note for subsecs. (a), (b) and

Historical and Revision Notes

above.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

46 U.S.C. § 60301

Title 46 — Shipping

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60