26 USC § 4461 - Imposition of tax

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t26/s4461"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "26 USC § 4461 - Imposition of tax"
title_number: 26
title_name: "INTERNAL REVENUE CODE"
section_number: "4461"
section_name: "Imposition of tax"
chapter_number: 36
chapter_name: "CERTAIN OTHER EXCISE TAXES"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "Harbor Maintenance Tax"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Added Pub. L. 99–662, title XIV, § 1402(a), Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4266; amended Pub. L. 101–508, title XI, § 11214(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–436; Pub. L. 109–59, title XI, § 11116(b), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1951.)"
---


# § 4461. Imposition of tax

**(a)** **General rule** There is hereby imposed a tax on any port use.

**(b)** **Amount of tax** The amount of the tax imposed by subsection (a) on any port use shall be an amount equal to 0.125 percent of the value of the commercial cargo involved.

**(c)** **Liability and time of imposition of tax**

**(1)** **Liability** The tax imposed by subsection (a) shall be paid by—

**(A)** in the case of cargo entering the United States, the importer, or

**(B)** in any other case, the shipper.

**(2)** **Time of imposition** Except as provided by regulations, the tax imposed by subsection (a) shall be imposed at the time of unloading.

---

**Source Credit**: (Added Pub. L. 99–662, title XIV, § 1402(a), Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4266; amended Pub. L. 101–508, title XI, § 11214(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1388–436; Pub. L. 109–59, title XI, § 11116(b), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1951.)

## Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

For prior section 4461, see Prior Provisions note set out preceding .

### Amendments

2005—Subsec. (c)(1). , inserted “or” at end of subpar. (A), redesignated subpar. (C) as (B), and struck out former subpar. (B) which read as follows: “in the case of cargo to be exported from the United States, the exporter, or”.

Subsec. (c)(2). , substituted “imposed” for “imposed—

“(A) in the case of cargo to be exported from the United States, at the time of loading, and

“(B) in any other case,”.

1990—Subsec. (b).  substituted “0.125 percent” for “0.04 percent”.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2005 Amendment

> “The amendments made by this section [amending this section and
> 
> ] shall take effect before, on, and after the date of the enactment of this Act [
> 
> ].”

, , , provided that:

### Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

> “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on
> 
> .”

, , , provided that:

### Effective Date

> “The amendments made by this section [enacting this section and
> 
> ] shall take effect on
> 
> .”

, , , provided that:

### Authorization of Appropriations

, , , authorized to be appropriated to Department of the Treasury (from fees collected under section 58c(9), (10) of Title 19, Customs Duties) such sums as necessary to pay all expenses of administration incurred by such Department in administering this subchapter for periods to which such fees apply, prior to repeal by , , .

### Study of Cargo Diversion

, , , as amended by , , , provided that the Secretary of the Treasury would conduct a study to determine the impact of the port use tax imposed under this section on potential diversions of cargo from particular United States ports to any port in a country contiguous to the United States, and submit the report of the study to Congress not later than .