I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5694 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction for 

certain travel expenses of qualified emergency volunteers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2008 

Mr. BOOZMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 

deduction for certain travel expenses of qualified emergency volunteers. 

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 ‘‘Volunteer Firefighter/ 

5 Emergency Medical Service Gas Price Relief Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION FOR TRAVEL EX7 PENSES OF EMERGENCY VOLUNTEERS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap9 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 

10 additional itemized deductions for individuals) is amended 


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1 by redesignating section 224 as section 225 and by insert2 ing after section 223 the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 224. TRAVEL EXPENSES OF EMERGENCY VOLUN4 TEERS. 

5 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.—In the case of a 

6 qualified emergency volunteer, there shall be allowed as 

7 a deduction for the taxable year an amount equal to the 

8 qualified travel expenses paid or incurred by the qualified 

9 emergency volunteer during the taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—The amount allowed as 

11 a deduction under subsection (a) with respect to a quali12 fied emergency volunteer for any taxable year shall not 

13 exceed $250. 

14 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED EMERGENCY VOLUNTEER.—For 

15 purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified emergency vol16 unteer’ means a volunteer who provides firefighting or 

17 emergency medical services in conjunction with a qualified 

18 volunteer emergency response organization (as defined in 

19 section 139B). 

20 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED TRAVEL EXPENSES.—For purposes 

21 of this section, the term ‘qualified travel expenses’ 

22 means— 

23 ‘‘(1) the distance traveled by the qualified 

24 emergency volunteer in a motor vehicle (as defined 

25 in section 30(c)(2)) owned by such volunteer to and 


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1 from a qualified volunteer emergency response orga2 nization (as defined in section 139B) or the scene of 

3 an emergency with respect to which such volunteer 

4 provides firefighting or emergency medical services, 

5 multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(2) the standard mileage rate (as defined in 

7 section 170(i)). 

8 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

9 shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any expense for 

10 which a deduction or credit is allowed under any other 

11 provision of this chapter.’’. 

12 (b) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR NOT TAX13 PAYER ITEMIZES OTHER DEDUCTIONS.—Subsection (a) 

14 of section 62 of such Code (defining adjusted gross in15 come) is amended by inserting before the last sentence the 

16 following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(22) TRAVEL EXPENSES OF EMERGENCY VOL18 UNTEERS.—The deduction allowed by section 224.’’. 

19 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

20 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 

21 is amended by striking the item relating to section 224 

22 and by inserting after section 223 the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 224. Travel expenses of emergency volunteers. 

‘‘Sec. 225. Cross reference.’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2007. 

Æ 


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