Bipartisan Bill Would Extend the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to US Mariners

A bipartisan group of House members has introduced legislation that would give US merchant mariners working in international trade a tax break similar to the one available to other Americans working overseas, as part of a broader effort to address recruitment and retention problems.

The American Mariner Tax Fairness Act, introduced by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick with Reps. Tom Suozzi, Nicole Malliotakis and Brendan Boyle, would extend the federal foreign earned income exclusion to qualifying US mariners serving aboard US-flag vessels engaged in foreign trade. Mariners who spend at least 90 days during a 12-month period working aboard qualifying vessels would be eligible, and the benefit would apply only to income earned during qualifying periods at sea.

America's maritime strength depends first on the men and women who crew our ships, Fitzpatrick said. Our merchant mariners spend months away from their families doing demanding, essential work that keeps commerce moving and preserves a capability our nation cannot afford to lose.

The bill lands amid renewed concern in Washington about whether the country has enough qualified mariners to crew the commercial and government-controlled vessels needed in a major military contingency. The US-flag deep-sea fleet has fallen sharply over several decades, from roughly 1,100 oceangoing vessels in 1950 to fewer than 200 today, and that decline has reduced the pool of experienced mariners available to support the strategic sealift fleet in wartime or national emergency.

Suozzi, whose district includes the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and the Webb Institute, said the proposal recognises the unusual demands placed on Americans who make their living at sea, and described the measure as targeted relief that acknowledges the sacrifices of entering a demanding profession.

Labour and industry groups have backed it. Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association president Adam Vokac described mariner recruitment and retention as one of the most pressing national security vulnerabilities facing the maritime industry today, and said the act simply extends to mariners sailing in international waters the same treatment already given to other Americans working abroad, bringing the United States into line with how every other major maritime nation treats its seafarers. American Maritime Congress executive director Elizabeth O'Connor said the legislation would help address the shortage while supporting the US-flag fleet.

The measure is narrow by design, which is also its limitation. Extending the exclusion changes take-home pay for a mariner already sailing under a flag that requires US crew, but it does not change the number of qualifying berths, which is set by the size of the US-flag deep-sea fleet. The bill adds to a growing push in Congress to rebuild the sector, alongside the shipbuilding capacity and crewing measures that have moved through Washington this year.