Internal Revenue Service
Revenue Ruling

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 Rev. Rul. 58-82

1958-1 C.B. 421

Caution: Superseded by Rev. Rul. 85-149

IRS Headnote

Neither the manufacturers excise tax on sporting goods nor the manufacturers excise tax on firearms, imposed by sections 4161 and 4181 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, respectively, applies to the sale of an underwater rubber-powered spear gun.

Full Text

Rev. Rul. 58-82

Advice has been requested whether the manufacturers excise tax on sporting goods or the manufacturers excise tax on firearms applies to the sale of a spear gun which is designed for underwater deep sea fishing. The force necessary to project the spear is furnished by means of rubber bands or rubber tubes, rather than by an explosive.

Section 4161 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 imposes a tax upon the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of certain enumerated articles of sporting goods, including fishing rods, creels, reels and artificial lures, baits and flies. Since a spear gun is not one of the items enumerated in section 4161, the tax imposed by that section does not apply.

Section 4181 of the Code imposes a tax upon the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of firearms, shells, and cartridges. Section 316.80(b) of Regulations 46, made applicable to the 1954 Code by Treasury Decision 6091, C.B. 1954-2, 47, defines the term `firearms' to include all portable weapons, such as rifles, carbines, machine guns, shotguns and fowling pieces, from which a shot, bullet, or projectile may be discharged by an explosive.

It is held that a spear gun which projects a spear by means of rubber bands or rubber tubes, rather than by an explosive, does not constitute a `firearm' within the meaning of section 4181 of the Code; therefore, sales thereof are not subject to the manufacturers excise tax imposed by that section.