I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 934
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 
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
Mr. HINCHEY (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GOODE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 
MCNULTY, Mr. EVANS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, 
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Emergency 
Responders Volunteer Efforts Act of 2005’’ or the 
‘‘SERVE Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER 
MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTING 
AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE ORGA-
NIZATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by redes-
ignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting after 
section 35 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 36. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUN-
TEER FIREFIGHTING AND EMERGENCY MED-
ICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 
at any time during the taxable year is a bona fide volun-
teer member of a qualified volunteer fire department, 
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 
by this subtitle the amount of $1,000. 
‘‘(b) PART-YEAR ACTIVE MEMBERS.—In the case of 
an individual who is a bona fide volunteer member of a 
qualified volunteer fire department for only a portion of 
a taxable year, the amount of the credit under subsection 
(a) for such taxable year shall be an amount which bears 
the same ratio to $1,000 as such portion bears to the en-
tire taxable year. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBER OF A 
QUALIFIED VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall be 
treated as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified 
volunteer fire department for purposes of this 
section if—
‘‘(i) the only compensation received by 
such individual for performing qualified 
services is in the form of—
‘‘(I) reimbursement for (or a rea-
sonable allowance for) reasonable ex-
penses incurred in the performance of 
such services, or 
‘‘(II) reasonable benefits (includ-
ing length of service awards), and 
nominal fees for such services, cus-
tomarily paid by eligible employers in 
connection with the performance of 
such services by volunteers, and 
‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of such 
compensation for the taxable year for pro-
viding qualified services does not exceed an 
amount equal to the annual limitation.
‘‘(B) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), the annual limitation is 
an amount equal to the product of—
‘‘(i) the minimum wage in effect 
under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 
Standards 
Act 
of 
1938 
(29 
U.S.C. 
206(a)(1)) on the first day of the calendar 
year beginning in the taxable year, multi-
plied by 
‘‘(ii) 2,080 hours. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
SERVICES.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, the term ‘qualified services’ means 
fire fighting and prevention services, emergency 
medical services, and ambulance services. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED
VOLUNTEER
FIRE
DEPART-
MENT.—The term ‘qualified volunteer fire depart-
ment’ has the meaning given such term by section 
150(e).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 
31, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or 
36’’ after ‘‘section 35’’. 
(2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating the
item relating to section 36 as an item relating to 
section 37 and by inserting before the item relating 
to section 37 the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 36. Bona fide volunteer members of volunteer firefighting and emergency 
medical service organizations.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ