HQ 112621: Application for Refund of Special Tonnage Tax and Light Money for the Cypriot Vessel M/V GOLDEN SKY

Native CBP ruling rendition. Applicability is fact-specific; modification/revocation relationships and original publisher date are retained. Publisher sentinel year0001 means unknown date, not a historical legal adoption.

                            HQ 112621

                         April 12, 1993


VES-11-11 CO:R:IT:C 112621 DEC

CATEGORY:  Carriers


Area Director
U.S. Customs Service
5353 Essen - Room 290
Baton Rouge, LA  70809
Attention:  Joye Travis

RE:  Application for Refund of Special Tonnage Tax and Light
     Money for the Cypriot Vessel M/V GOLDEN SKY


Dear Sir:


     This is in reference to your memorandum dated February 26,
1993, concerning an application for refund of special tonnage tax
and light money filed by Maritime Endeavors Shipping Company,
Ltd. on behalf of Rosegarden Shipping Company, Ltd.


FACTS:

     On February 13, 1993, the M/V GOLDEN SKY made an informal
entry at the port of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as a foreign arrival
from Santos, Brazil.  At the time of entrance, the vessel's agent
was not able to produce an original register or certificate of
nationality for the vessel.  Special tonnage tax and light money
in the amount of $12,207 were demanded when representatives for
the vessel were unable to present an original document.

     The money was assessed pursuant to section 121 of title 46,
United States Code (46 U.S.C. 121), and section 4.20, Customs
Regulations (19 CFR 4.20), upon arrival of the vessel at the port
of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on February 13, 1993.






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ISSUE:

     Whether special tonnage taxes and light money assessed
because the vessel under consideration did not have a current
original document of registry when it was entered or before it
was cleared should be refunded when timely application for refund
is made and the applicant submits an original Certificate of
Registry for the vessel signed by the Registrar of Cyprus Ships.


LAW AND ANALYSIS:

     Under 46 U.S.C. App. 121 and 128, a special tonnage tax in
the amount of fifty cents per ton and light money in the amount
of fifty cents per ton are to be assessed on vessels not built in
the United States and not of the United States.  However,
pursuant to 46 U.S.C. 141 (see also final clause of penultimate
sentence of 46 U.S.C. App. 121), upon satisfactory proof that no
discriminating duties of tonnage or imposts are imposed in the
ports of another nation upon United States vessels, "... foreign
discriminating duties of tonnage and impost within the United
States are suspended and discontinued, so far as respects the
vessels of such foreign nation . . .."  The nations for which
such satisfactory proof has been supplied are listed in section
4.22, Customs Regulations (19 C.F.R. 4.22).  Cyprus is one of
those nations.

     The Customs Regulations pertaining to tonnage taxes and
light money are found in section 4.20-4.24, Customs Regulations
(19 C.F.R. 4.20-4.24).  The procedures and requirements for
obtaining a refund of tonnage taxes and light money are in
section 4.24.  Under that section, an application for refund must
be made within 1 year from the date of payment.  Paragraph (e) of
section 4.24 provides that such an application must include:

     ... a certificate by the owner or ... agent that payment of
     tonnage tax at the applicable rate has been or will be made
     for each entry of the vessel on a voyage on which that rate
     is applicable before the end of the current tonnage year,
     exclusive of any payment which has been refunded or which
     may be refunded as a result of such application.

     Only the original of a vessel registry, tonnage certificate,
or official amendment or endorsement of either shall be accepted
by Customs at the time of arrival of the vessel for the purpose
of establishing the nationality and tonnage of the vessel, unless
the vessel is a vessel of Lebanon (Customs Directive 3100-03,
September 22, 1986).  When the owner or agent of a vessel which 


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has been assessed special tonnage taxes and light money timely
submits the original vessel document to the District Director of
Customs for the port where the special tonnage taxes and light
money were assessed, the special tonnage taxes and light money
may be refunded.  If it is impractical, infeasible, or
inconvenient for the vessel owner or agent to submit the original
document to Customs the vessel owner or agent may submit to
Customs a photostatic copy of the original document, signed and
certified to be a true copy by an appropriate official of the
government of registry of the vessel.

     In this case the vessel agent has timely applied for a
refund of the special tonnage taxes and light money assessed
against the M/V GOLDEN SKY.  

     An original "Certificate of Cyprus Registry" dated February
1, 1993, and signed by the Registrar of Cyprus Ships was
submitted to Customs in Baton Rouge.  The Customs office in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, has certified this document to be a true copy
of the original Certificate of Cyprus Registry, and it has been
submitted to sustain the vessel's nationality.  The original
document was issued on February 1, 1993, and was in effect at the
time of entry in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

     We conclude that this evidence satisfactorily establishes
the tonnage of the M/V GOLDEN SKY and that the M/V GOLDEN SKY was
a vessel of Cyprus when it entered Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on
February 13, 1993.  We concur with your recommendation that the
special tonnage taxes and light money assessed against the M/V
GOLDEN SKY be refunded.


HOLDING:

     Upon the filing of the certificate required in 19 C.F.R.
4.24(e), special tonnage taxes and light money assessed because
the vessel under consideration did not have a current original
document of registry when it was entered or before it was cleared
may be refunded on the basis of the applicant's submission of an
original Certificate of Registry for the vessel signed by the
Registrar of Cyprus Ships.

                                   Sincerely,




                                   Stuart P. Seidel
                                   Director, International Trade