---
kind: "section"
citation: "26 U.S.C. § 5821"
title: "26"
title_heading: "Internal Revenue Code"
number: "5821"
heading: "Making tax"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/26/5821"
units:
  - "Subtitle E — Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes"
  - "Chapter 53 — Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms"
  - "Subchapter A — Taxes"
  - "Part III — Tax on Making Firearms"
---

# §5821. Making tax

- (a) **Rate—** There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon the making of a [firearm](/usc/26/5845.md?p=a) a tax at the rate of—
  - (1) $200 for each [firearm](/usc/26/5845.md?p=a) made in the case of a [machinegun](/usc/26/5845.md?p=b) or a [destructive device](/usc/26/5845.md?p=f), and
  - (2) $0 for any [firearm](/usc/26/5845.md?p=a) made which is not described in [paragraph (1)](#a-1).
- (b) **By whom paid—** The tax imposed by [subsection (a)](#a) of this section shall be paid by the person making the [firearm](/usc/26/5845.md?p=a).
- (c) **Payment—** The tax imposed by [subsection (a)](#a) of this section shall be payable by the stamp prescribed for payment by the Secretary.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 90–618, title II, § 201, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1228; amended Pub. L. 94–455, title XIX, § 1906(b)(13)(A), Oct. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1834; Pub. L. 119–21, title VII, § 70436(b), July 4, 2025, 139 Stat. 247.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 5821, acts Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 724; Sept. 2, 1958, Pub. L. 85–859, title II, § 203(d), 72 Stat. 1427, consisted of provisions similar to those comprising this section, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 90–618.

### Amendments

2025—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 119–21 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon the making of a firearm a tax at the rate of $200 for each firearm made.”

1976—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2025 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 119–21 applicable to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025, see section 70436(d) of Pub. L. 119–21, set out as a note under section 4182 of this title.

### Effective Date

Section effective on first day of first month following October 1968, see section 207 of Pub. L. 90–618, set out as a note under section 5801 of this title.