I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5700 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2008 

Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. HALL of New 

York, Mr. HOLT, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. GOODE, Mr. DAVID DAVIS

of Tennessee, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. 

ANDREWS, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. ALTMIRE, and Mr. BISHOP of New 

York) 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 

$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 2008’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SERVE Act of 2008’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER 

2 MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RE3 SPONSE ORGANIZATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by redes7 ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 

8 section 35 the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 36. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUN10 TEER EMERGENCY RESPONSE ORGANIZA11 TIONS. 

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 emergency response 

15 organization, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 

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

17 ‘‘(b) PART-YEAR ACTIVE MEMBERS.—In the case of 

18 an individual who is a bona fide volunteer member of a 

19 qualified volunteer emergency response organizations for 

20 only a portion of a taxable year, the amount of the credit 

21 under subsection (a) for such taxable year shall be an 

22 amount which bears the same ratio to $1,000 as such por23 tion bears to the entire taxable year. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 


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

2 QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONSE OR3 GANIZATIONS.— 

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

5 treated as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified 

6 volunteer emergency response organizations for 

7 purposes of this section if— 

8 ‘‘(i) the only compensation received by 

9 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 ‘‘(ii) 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 ‘‘(C) COORDINATION WITH EXCLUSION.— 

12 Amounts excluded from gross income under sec13 tion 139B shall not be taken into account for 

14 purposes of subparagraph (A). 

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

16 this paragraph, the term ‘qualified services’ means 

17 fire fighting and prevention services, emergency 

18 medical services, and ambulance services. 

19 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RE20 SPONSE ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘qualified vol21 unteer emergency response organizations’ has the 

22 meaning given such term by section 139B(c)(3).’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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

2 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

3 36’’ after ‘‘section 35’’. 

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

5 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev6 enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating the 

7 item relating to section 36 as an item relating to 

8 section 37 and by inserting before the item relating 

9 to section 37 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer emergency response organizations.’’. 

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

11 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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