BILL NUMBER: S5837A
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to increasing the volunteer
firefighters' and ambulance workers' credit
 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
This bill gives a State income tax credit to volunteer firefighters and
members of a volunteer ambulance corps in good standing up to $1,200.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: amends subdivision (e-1) of section 606 of the Tax Law to
provide volunteer firefighters and members of volunteer ambulance corps
an increased income tax credit. The subdivision provides that a member
of a volunteer fire department or a member of a volunteer ambulance
corps shall be allowed a $1200 credit against any income tax owed by
such member. It also permits spouses who file a joint return and are
each individually eligible for the credit to receive a total tax credit
of $2400 per year.
Section 2: Establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps do not receive compensation
for the vital services they provide to communities statewide. Many
localities grant volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers a real
property tax exemption for the performance of such services. Although
this property tax exemption is a valuable public reward for their
service, some volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps workers, espe-
cially younger ones, do not own a home and do not benefit from such a
program. Under current tax law, such volunteers receive a small income
tax credit of $200, which is too low to be a recruitment incentive. The
increased income tax credit provided by this bill would uniformly bene-
fit nearly all such volunteers and would provide an important recruit-
ment tool to attract new volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps
workers into this critical public service.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2011: N/A
2012: S6635, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2013: S2111A, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2014: S2111A, Amend and Recommit to Investigations and Government Oper-
ations
2015: S1831A, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2016: S1831A, Amend and Recommit to Investigations and Government Oper-
ations
2017: S756, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2018: S756, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2019: S7016, Referred to Budget and Revenue
2020: S7016, Referred to Budget and Revenue
2021: S204, Referred to Budget and Revenue
2022: S204, Referred to Budget and Revenue
2023: S5944, Referred to Budget and Revenue
2024: S5944, Referred to Budget and Revenue
Assembly
2011: A4593A, Referred to Ways and Means
2012: A4593A, Held for Consideration in Ways and Means
2013: No Assembly Same-As
2014: No Assembly Same-As
2015: A4850A, Referred to Ways and Means
2016: A4850A, Amend and Recommit to Ways and Means
2017: N/A
2018: A9530, Referred to Ways and Means
2019: No Assembly Same-As
2020: No Assembly Same-As
2021: A886, Referred to Ways and Means
2022: A886, Referred to Ways and Means
2023: A185, Referred to Ways and Means
2024: A185, Referred to Ways and Means
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the January 1, 2027 and shall apply to
taxable years beginning on or after such date. Effective immediately the
commissioner of taxation and finance is authorized to promulgate any and
all rules and regulations and take any other measures necessary to
implement this act on its effective date on or before such date.

Statutes affected:
S5837: 606 tax law