II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 932 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a $1,000 refundable 

credit for individuals who are bona fide volunteer members of volunteer 

firefighting and emergency medical service organizations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2011 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 

$1,000 refundable credit for individuals who are bona 

fide volunteer members of volunteer firefighting and 

emergency medical service organizations. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Emergency 

5 Responders Volunteer Efforts Act of 2011’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SERVE Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER 

2 MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTING 

3 AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE ORGA4 NIZATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub6 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36C the fol8 lowing new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 36D. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUN10 TEER FIREFIGHTING AND EMERGENCY MED11 ICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 

13 at any time during the taxable year is a bona fide volun14 teer member of a qualified volunteer fire department, 

15 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 

16 by this subtitle the amount of $1,000. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBER OF A

19 QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be 

21 treated as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified 

22 volunteer fire department for purposes of this 

23 section if— 

24 ‘‘(i) such individual was a member of 

25 a qualified volunteer fire department for 


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1 not less than 6 months during the taxable 

2 year, 

3 ‘‘(ii) such individual met all applicable 

4 training and certification requirements of 

5 the qualified volunteer fire department 

6 during all periods in which such individual 

7 was a member of the such department, 

8 ‘‘(iii) the only compensation received 

9 by such individual for performing qualified 

10 services is in the form of— 

11 ‘‘(I) reimbursement for (or a rea12 sonable allowance for) reasonable ex13 penses incurred in the performance of 

14 such services, or 

15 ‘‘(II) reasonable benefits (includ16 ing length of service awards), and 

17 nominal fees for such services, cus18 tomarily paid by eligible employers in 

19 connection with the performance of 

20 such services by volunteers, and 

21 ‘‘(iv) the aggregate amount of such 

22 compensation for the taxable year for pro23 viding qualified services does not exceed an 

24 amount equal to the annual limitation. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—For purposes 

2 of subparagraph (A), the annual limitation is 

3 an amount equal to the product of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the minimum wage in effect 

5 under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 

6 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

7 206(a)(1)) on the first day of the calendar 

8 year beginning in the taxable year, multi9 plied by 

10 ‘‘(ii) 2,080 hours. 

11 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED SERVICES.—For purposes of 

12 this paragraph, the term ‘qualified services’ means 

13 fire fighting and prevention services, emergency 

14 medical services, and ambulance services. 

15 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPART16 MENT.—The term ‘qualified volunteer fire depart17 ment’ has the meaning given such term by section 

18 150(e).’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

20 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 

21 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

22 ‘‘36D,’’ after ‘‘36C,’’. 

23 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

24 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal RevVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:41 May 11, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S932.IS S932

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1 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

2 item relating to section 36C the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36D. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer firefighting and emergency medical service organizations.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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