[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 625 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to refundable credits) 
is amended by redesignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting 
after section 35 the following new section:

``SEC. 36. BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTING AND 
              EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of an individual who at any time 
during the taxable year is a bona fide volunteer 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 
entire 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 
                                reasonable allowance for) reasonable 
                                expenses incurred in the performance of 
                                such services, or
                                    ``(II) reasonable benefits 
                                (including length of service awards), 
                                and nominal fees for such services, 
                                customarily 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 providing 
                        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, multiplied 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 department.--The term 
        `qualified volunteer fire department' 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 Revenue 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.
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