In the Big Beautiful Bill being voted on by Senate Republicans, a little-known tax break is poised for a major expansion: It’s the whaling boat captain deduction.
Tucked deep within the 940-page legislation is a provision that would quintuple the existing deduction available to Alaska Native whaling captains.
If passed, the maximum deduction would increase from $10,000 to $50,000, allowing captains to write off a larger share of their expenses associated with traditional, subsistence bowhead whale hunts. The tax deduction provision was first reported by Politico.
Originally added to the tax code in 2004, the deduction applies to recognized whaling captains who are sanctioned by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. Qualifying captains may deduct costs associated with hunting equipment, fuel, weapons, and the maintenance of boats used during the hunts, activities that are carried out for the benefit of Native communities and considered charitable in nature under the current tax code.
The expanded deduction is among the more unusual tax incentives in federal law and has occasionally drawn criticism and mockery from lawmakers and media alike.
But within many Alaska Native communities, the provision is seen as a small but meaningful recognition of the costs and cultural importance of subsistence whaling.
Lawmakers released the updated text of the bill late Wednesday night, as they prepare to push the comprehensive package to President Donald Trump’s desk by early July.
While the bulk of the legislation centers on broader Republican priorities—such as lowering energy costs and tightening immigration enforcement, the inclusion of the whaling captain provision has been fought for by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Dan Sullivan.
A formal cost estimate for the expanded deduction has not yet been released. There are approximately 150 to 160 whaling captains in Alaska, according to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.
Hey, wait a minute! I catch fish that sometimes are as big as whales and I don’t get no tax break. I have expenses, too, you know! This provision is clearly discriminatory, and racist, too.
Every elected Congressional desires an exception here, and an exception there. No wonder Musk departed, the frustration of watching folks, like the “Princess” make demands for exceptions ‘here and there’, wasting the efforts of reducing the deficit a fools error.
This particular cutout even in its original amount, is a selfish gift to those who choose to life their lifestyle at others expense. Sorry, unless you were to include ALL fishing masters of every fishing specie as a class , the singular exception is a cost, not a overall benefit to the effort of reducing waste.
Cheers
Al, hold on there for a minute. I like thisxtax exemption, but believe it needs to be enlarged to include Humpback Whaling too.
The once near endangered Humpback has now literally eaten itself out-of house and home in Southeast.
Let’s give Whaling Captains access to Humpbacks and pay for with lavish Tax deductions. Similar to carbon credits?
And the whaling captains can’t even put the prize oosik on their mantle. Walrus captains rule. Right, Puk?
One of the problems in Congress is carve outs. We cannot make it clean but rather obtain votes by playing with an individual Senator – who can be unreliable at times. Imagine writing a provision in a bill that would benefit just my neighborhood. Murkowski – what is the cost benefit?
Geez, with that kind of tax deduction the captains can afford to buy new toys. State of the art Mercury EFI outboard engines Powerful rifles with night vision scope to take out the largest whales. Geo tracking cellphones with displays showing where the whale will surface and where to kill. Satellite phone to call home and report a kill, then place an order for pizza delivery with Papa Johns. Yep, those tax deductions really are necessary to blow a few more whales out of the water and chew on some muktuk after having belly full of pizza. Hold the anchovies.
AA, I say lets give the whaling Captains not only a tax break, but a subsidy in order to enable them to come kill Humpback Whales in the off season. Just in my lifetime I recall when we had a gazillion herring spawning everywhere in Southeast, whales were around and well fed and hunted but few. Today, Humpbacks are ubiquitous and herring almost extinct. We need to cull 20,000 or so Humpbacks to stop this strip mining of our oceans.
Trump know about this? I see a great way to balance our trade with Norway and Japan by so doing.
Lol, you don’t know what you are talking about.
Whales are killed with an explosive charge, fired out of a cannon.
Personally, I support this tax break.
It’s really cool that Natives still get to hunt, pursue, shoot, drag, butcher, harvest, and eat whales.
For once – no native fatigue.
Poach
Right, because they used to hunt with motor boats, cartridge fired harpoons, and GPS before the evil white man governed Alaska.
But the evil white man doesn’t kill whales. Tastes lousy, and all of that blubber causes heart attacks, not to mention considerable prolonged periods of severe constipation. More Medicaid for the villages.
Princess slithers in another carve-out for Natives.. Who is surprised???
Chuck–the whaling captain tax break has been in funding bills since 2004 and has been supported by all members of Alaska’s congressional delegation since it was first introduced in 1999, before Murkowski joined the Senate.
God forbid Princess fight off an existing discriminatory policy. How unbecoming of her that would be?
Because “subsistence” needs tax breaks. Do you not see the hypocrisy in this?
Truly a colorblind society where we’re all subject to the same rules, regulations and laws regardless of race, creed or religion…right? Pandering to the Alaska Natives is a-ok though. And the Big Beautiful Bill is so full of Republican pork that any Muslim would be afraid to touch it. All the RINOs had their shot at it. Our congressional delegation is probably behind this absurdity. Funny, isn’t it, that everyone says they’re concerned about the national debt as they stuff their own earmarks into one big ugly package and then accuse anyone opposed of being anti-MAGA. Just business as usual in Washington DC and our representatives are as bad as the rest.
So this is the ask that Lisa is demanding for her loyalty?! Not something to help our economy. Not something that helps Alaska miners and North Slope workers. Not something to help gas exploration and drilling in Cook Inlet. Alaskans must be a joke in Congress!
In order to claim the benefit, the IRS says someone has to be recognized as a whaling captain by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and must be engaged in the sanctioned, subsistence hunting of bowhead whales.
Only Alaskan Eskimos who are registered members of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission may hunt bowhead whales in the U.S. 150 to 160 of them potentially get this increased $50,000 tax deduction. They can’t all hunt whales at once, but the devil’s in the details for qualifying for the increased deduction.
Wonder what other big beautiful tax breaks or grants are hidden in this 940 page bill?
And this is why our current tax structure needs abolished and we need to go to a flat sales tax at a percentage that keeps our country functioning. The current system is a complete convoluted failure. It’s unfair to everyone. I want everyone to pay their fair share and not a dime more . Sales tax is very easy to collect. We could rid ourselves of the accounting industry entirely. Next big thing to get rid of is attorneys, ha ha. With Trump in office anything is possible.
“ We could rid ourselves of the accounting industry entirely. Next big thing to get rid of is attorneys, ha ha.”
What’s next on your list? Eliminate dental checkups..?
Are you an attorney Joe. Or an accountant.?.
Ah Joe you’re a politician. Very interesting. Wonder why you’re blogging on an Alaskan site. .?? So tell me in your small mind how dental care elimination has anything to do with getting rid of expensive attorneys and accountants?? Just wondering. You are a real rocket scientist.
Dr King must be rolling over in his grave. So much for a color blind society. The suits did manage to strip out all the efforts made to gut the ATF and their antiquated bureaucracy-created rules. Good job “representatives”
Whalers buy “cannons” from Sweden that they use as harpoons. I’ve seen these horrible weapons used on the North Slope. Hunters use big boats with outboards. How on earth can a community like Barrow, eat as many as 10 whales summer season and another 10 in the fall? I don’t think they can. And it’s really not hunting–the whales swim right by Point Barrow on the way to and from their summer areas. Many Natives don’t like whale and prefer other meat. Let’s stop this senseless killing of the largest mammal on earth!
Save the whales?
And Kamala.
Totally agree!
In the 21st century, who slaughters these beautiful creatures of the ocean? Shame on these tribal cowards.
Moby Dique and friends need to fight back. A plague on these whaling captains and their families for all of the whale killing. Most of these creeps can’t even swim. Nearest Coast Guard rescue is several hours away. I pray the whales revolt and teach the so called captains in their little kayaks to respect these magnificent creatures.
The still hunt primarily bowhead whales, some beluga whales out side of Cook Inlet, and even some Narwhals.
The populations are managed to insure continued subsistence.
Diminished populations of Belugas were and are being studied to death in Cook Inlet. DO NOT ask the scientists in an open public forum about how many whales are lost each year due to “tagging”. A euphemism designed to soften the truth of whales being shot and not recovered. So the act and reality of tagging, is officially disregarded as unsubstantial yet the feds can’t and won’t tell you how often it actually happens. Follow the science…denied
To an extent, Sullivan is part of the problem, not just Princess. This carve out is discriminatory
Remember the whales that were ice-jammed near Barrow back in the 1980’s? That was all for show and environmental feel-good by CNN. The footage went worldwide, showing the Eskimos, greenies, and Russian icebreakers all working in harmony to save three or four wayward whales from suffocating below the ice. Turns out, after the the film crews departed, the Eskimos went back for the kill. But everyone missed that part.
Question:
How do the captains pull that leviathon out of the water and up on the solid ice?
Wonder where pin head Joe disappeared to. He is a politician in another state.
What about my tax breaks? As a vegan, I pay more than double the price for plant-based-meats, plant-based-eggs, plant-based cheese, etc. Why isn’t my lifestyle choice being given tax breaks. At least I don’t TORTURE AND KILL ANIMALS.
The fact that these whaling captains are given up to $50,000 in tax write-offs for fuel, weapons, maintaining equipment, etc. proves they aren’t starving. How about NOT spending money on fuel, weapons, etc. and go to a normal grocery store like the rest of us.