Bill > A709

Introduced Session

This bill permits volunteer firefighters and first aid or rescue squad members to claim an additional exemption of $5,000 to be taken as a deduction from their gross income if they meet certain qualifications. Under the bill, firefighters may claim the $5,000 deduction if they: 1) volunteered during the entire tax year; 2) performed 60% of fire duty; and 3) had, by January 1st of the tax year, attained the rank of Firefighter I Certified according to approved standards. To satisfy the "60% of fire duty" requirement, volunteer firefighters without duty hours must have responded to 60% of the regular alarms and drills in which the department or force participated and volunteer firefighters with duty hours must have at least 400 duty hours during a calendar year of which not more than 50% was for drills. First aid or rescue squad members may claim the deduction if they: 1) volunteered during the entire tax year; 2) performed 10% of rescue duty; and 3) had, by January 1st of the tax year, either passed an approved training program or qualified as an emergency medical technician. To satisfy the "10% of rescue duty" requirement, first aid or rescue squad members who volunteer with duty hours must complete at least 400 hours of duty during the year, of which not more than 50% is for drills. If they volunteer without duty hours, the squad members must attend and render first aid at not less than 10% of the regular alarms and participate in 60% of the drills. The bill defines duty hours as those during which volunteers committed themselves to respond to alarms. The bill requires eligible volunteers to submit proof with their tax claim that they are entitled to the deduction. The Director of the Division of Taxation is responsible for establishing the manner of this proof. An official of each fire department or force is responsible for providing a list of firefighters who are eligible for the deduction for the previous tax year to the Department of Community Affairs by March 31st. Similarly, an official of the rescue or first aid squad is responsible for providing a list of squad members who are eligible for the deduction for the previous tax year to the Department of Health and Senior Services by March 31st. The lists are to be made available to the Director of the Division of Taxation for verification purposes. An official who files a false list is subject to prosecution under section 29 of P.L.1987, c.76 (C.54:52-19), which makes it a crime of the fourth degree to knowingly certify a false statement with the intent to evade a tax. Fourth-degree crimes are punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Committee Categories

DiAnne Gove (R)*,  Sean Kean (R)*,  Brian Rumpf (R)*,  Tony Bucco (R),  BettyLou DeCroce (R), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee (on 01/09/2018)