Refunds for harbor maintenance taxes.On March 31, 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down the harbor maintenance tax (HMT HMT Her Majesty's Treasury (UK) HMT Hazardous Materials Table (49 CFR 172.101) HMT Health Management Technology (magazine) HMT Higher Mother Tongue HMT Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd. ) as an unconstitutional tax on exports (U.S. v. United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Shoe Corp.). Exporters, importers and domestic shippers pay the HMT based on the value of commercial cargo they ship through U.S. ports. The U.S. Customs Service collects the HMT at the time exports are loaded and imports and other shipments are unloaded. The tax traditionally has been used to fund harbor maintenance and development. U.S. Shoe sought refunds of HMT paid during a three-month period in 1994, arguing that HMT violates the Export Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits Congress from imposing any duty on exports. The U.S. government declared that the HMT is a permissible user fee, not an export duty. Justice Ginsberg ruled that the HMT "bears the indicia Signs; indications. Circumstances that point to the existence of a given fact as probable, but not certain. For example, indicia of partnership are any circumstances which would induce the belief that a given person was in reality, though not technically, a member of a given of a tax" because Congress called it a tax and because it is part of the Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code is the body of law that codifies all federal tax laws, including income, estate, gift, excise, alcohol, tobacco, and employment taxes. These laws constitute title 26 of the U.S. Code (26 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. . More important, the HMT is levied directly on exported goods, with reference to their value, and hears no relationship to port services rendered to a shipper SHIPPER. One who ships or puts goods on board of a vessel, to be carried to another place during her voyage. In general, the shipper is bound to pay for the hire of the vessel, or the freight of the goods. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1030. . Observation. L. S. Shoe Corp. challenged the HMT only as it applies to exports. Thus, the Supreme Court's ruling does not immediately affect taxes paid on imported and domestically shipped cargo. Nor does it address how much interest the government will have to pay or the years for which refunds will have to be made. The Court of International Trade ordered the government to refund HMT amounts paid by U.S. Shoe and enjoined it from collecting further HMT on exports Many companies--more than 4,000--have filed claims to protect their ability to obtain refunds of HMT. Companies that have not already filed such claims should consider doing so. Congress may redraft redraft Verb to write a second copy of (a letter, proposal, essay, etc.) Noun 1. redraft - a draft for the amount of a dishonored draft plus the costs and charges of drafting again the HMT in the form of a user fee that correlates with the exporter's use of port services and facilities because Justice Ginsberg's opinion indicates that a bona fide [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding. A bona fide purchaser is one who purchases property for a valuable consideration that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being user fee will survive a challenge to the Export Clause. --Tracy Hollingsworth, Esq., staff director of tax councils at Manufacturers Alliance, Arlington, Virginia. |
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