From: Pennsylvania Fire & Emergency Services Institute
Date: 2007/11/07 Wed PM 12:50:10 CST
Subject: Federal Tax Relief Passes For Volunteer Firefighters and EMS Personnel

PA INFORMATIONAL ALERT: A SERVICE OF THE PENNSYLVANIA
FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES INSTITUTE
Tom Savage, Executive Director
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House Passes Tax Relief For Volunteer Firefighters and EMS Personnel

Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance
and Relief Tax (HEART) Act, which excludes from taxable income all property tax benefits and
up to $360 per year of any other benefit paid to volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel by
state and local units of government. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, passage
of the HEART Act (H.R. 3997) will result in $994 million in tax savings for volunteer
firefighters and EMS personnel over the next 10 years.

Volunteer firefighters save American taxpayers more than $37.2 billion every year.
Unfortunately, statistics show that the number of volunteer firefighters in the country
have decreased over the last 20 years even as the average age of volunteer firefighters
has gone up. Many communities have discovered that providing benefits to their volunteer
firefighters and EMS personnel has a positive impact on retention and recruitment.
Taxation of these benefits by the federal government reduces their value as an incentive
to the volunteer and creates a significant administrative burden on small municipalities
and townships.

On October 17, National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Connecticut State Director
John McAuliffe testified before the House Ways and Means Committee about the need
to prohibit the federal taxation of benefits for volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel.
Since then, the NVFC worked closely with other organizations and members of the Ways
and Means Committee to ensure that language providing tax relief to volunteer firefighters
and EMS personnel was included in the HEART Act, which also includes various
provisions regarding taxation of military income. On November 5, the NVFC, along with
three other national organizations, sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the
Committee expressing support for passage of the HEART Act.

H.R. 3997 now goes to the Senate, where it will be considered by the Committee on Finance.
The NVFC urges its members to contact their Senators and ask that they support passage of
the HEART Act.