II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 625 

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 

MARCH 15, 2005 

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 2005’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SERVE Act of 2005’’. 
2

•S 625 IS

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 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by redes8 ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 

9 section 35 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 36. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUN11 TEER FIREFIGHTING AND EMERGENCY MED12 ICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. 

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

14 at any time during the taxable year is a bona fide volun15 teer member of a qualified volunteer fire department, 

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

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

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

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

20 qualified volunteer fire department for only a portion of 

21 a taxable year, the amount of the credit under subsection 

22 (a) for such taxable year shall be an amount which bears 

23 the same ratio to $1,000 as such portion bears to the en24 tire taxable year. 

25 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
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•S 625 IS

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

2 QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT.— 

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

4 treated as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified 

5 volunteer fire department for purposes of this 

6 section if— 

7 ‘‘(i) the only compensation received by 

8 such individual for performing qualified 

9 services is in the form of— 

10 ‘‘(I) reimbursement for (or a rea11 sonable allowance for) reasonable ex12 penses incurred in the performance of 

13 such services, or 

14 ‘‘(II) reasonable benefits (includ15 ing length of service awards), and 

16 nominal fees for such services, cus17 tomarily paid by eligible employers in 

18 connection with the performance of 

19 such services by volunteers, and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of such 

21 compensation for the taxable year for pro22 viding qualified services does not exceed an 

23 amount equal to the annual limitation. 
4

•S 625 IS

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 ‘‘or 

22 36’’ after ‘‘section 35’’. 

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

24 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev25 enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating the 
5

•S 625 IS

1 item relating to section 36 as an item relating to 

2 section 37 and by inserting before the item relating 

3 to section 37 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 36. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer firefighting and emergency 

medical service organizations.’’.

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

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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