[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5694 Introduced in House (IH)]







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.

    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 ``Volunteer Firefighter/Emergency 
Medical Service Gas Price Relief Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES OF EMERGENCY 
              VOLUNTEERS.

    (a) In General.--Part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to additional itemized 
deductions for individuals) is amended by redesignating section 224 as 
section 225 and by inserting after section 223 the following new 
section:

``SEC. 224. TRAVEL EXPENSES OF EMERGENCY VOLUNTEERS.

    ``(a) Allowance of Deduction.--In the case of a qualified emergency 
volunteer, there shall be allowed as a deduction for the taxable year 
an amount equal to the qualified travel expenses paid or incurred by 
the qualified emergency volunteer during the taxable year.
    ``(b) Dollar Limitation.--The amount allowed as a deduction under 
subsection (a) with respect to a qualified emergency volunteer for any 
taxable year shall not exceed $250.
    ``(c) Qualified Emergency Volunteer.--For purposes of this section, 
the term `qualified emergency volunteer' means a volunteer who provides 
firefighting or emergency medical services in conjunction with a 
qualified volunteer emergency response organization (as defined in 
section 139B).
    ``(d) Qualified Travel Expenses.--For purposes of this section, the 
term `qualified travel expenses' means--
            ``(1) the distance traveled by the qualified emergency 
        volunteer in a motor vehicle (as defined in section 30(c)(2)) 
        owned by such volunteer to and from a qualified volunteer 
        emergency response organization (as defined in section 139B) or 
        the scene of an emergency with respect to which such volunteer 
        provides firefighting or emergency medical services, multiplied 
        by
            ``(2) the standard mileage rate (as defined in section 
        170(i)).
    ``(e) Denial of Double Benefit.--No deduction shall be allowed 
under subsection (a) for any expense for which a deduction or credit is 
allowed under any other provision of this chapter.''.
    (b) Deduction Allowed Whether or Not Taxpayer Itemizes Other 
Deductions.--Subsection (a) of section 62 of such Code (defining 
adjusted gross income) is amended by inserting before the last sentence 
the following new paragraph:
            ``(22) Travel expenses of emergency volunteers.--The 
        deduction allowed by section 224.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part VII of 
subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 224 and by inserting after section 223 the 
following new items:

``Sec. 224. Travel expenses of emergency volunteers.
``Sec. 225. Cross reference.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2007.
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