[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5700 Introduced in House (IH)]







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.

    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 2008'' or the ``SERVE Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR BONA FIDE VOLUNTEER MEMBERS OF VOLUNTEER 
              EMERGENCY RESPONSE 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 EMERGENCY RESPONSE 
              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 emergency response organization, 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 emergency 
response organizations 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 
        emergency response organizations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An individual shall be treated 
                as a bona fide volunteer of a qualified volunteer 
                emergency response organizations 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.
                    ``(C) Coordination with exclusion.--Amounts 
                excluded from gross income under section 139B shall not 
                be taken into account for purposes of subparagraph (A).
            ``(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 emergency response 
        organizations.--The term `qualified volunteer emergency 
        response organizations' has the meaning given such term by 
        section 139B(c)(3).''.
    (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 emergency response 
                            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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