House File 289 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 289 BY HEATON , J. SMITH , RAYHONS , LOFGREN , WORTHAN , SODERBERG , ARNOLD , TJEPKES , DE BOEF , HUSEMAN , and BRANDENBURG A BILL FOR An Act providing a credit against the individual income tax for 1 volunteer fire fighters, certified reserve peace officers, 2 and volunteer emergency medical services personnel and 3 including effective and applicability date provisions. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 2174HH (3) 84 tw/sc

H.F. 289 Section 1. Section 422.12, subsection 2, Code 2011, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . c. (1) A volunteer fire fighter, certified 3 reserve peace officer, and volunteer emergency medical services 4 personnel credit equal to five hundred dollars. 5 (2) If the taxpayer is not a volunteer fire fighter, 6 certified reserve peace officer, or volunteer emergency medical 7 services personnel for the entire tax year, the amount of the 8 credit stated in subparagraph (1) shall be prorated and the 9 amount of credit shall equal the maximum amount of credit for 10 the tax year, divided by twelve, multiplied by the number 11 of months in the tax year that the taxpayer was a volunteer 12 fire fighter, certified reserve peace officer, or volunteer 13 emergency medical services personnel. The credit amount shall 14 be rounded to the nearest five dollars. 15 (3) If the taxpayer is a volunteer fire fighter, certified 16 reserve peace officer, or volunteer emergency medical services 17 personnel during any part of a month, the taxpayer shall be 18 considered a volunteer fire fighter, certified reserve peace 19 officer, or volunteer emergency medical services personnel 20 for the entire month. If the taxpayer can claim the credit 21 for being a volunteer fire fighter, certified reserve peace 22 officer, or volunteer emergency medical services personnel in 23 the same month, a credit may be claimed for only one position 24 for that month. 25 (4) The taxpayer shall have a written statement from the 26 fire chief, the police chief or sheriff, or from another 27 appropriate supervisor verifying that the taxpayer was a 28 volunteer fire fighter, certified reserve peace officer, or 29 volunteer emergency medical services personnel during the 30 months for which the credit under this subsection is claimed. 31 (5) For purposes of this paragraph “c” : 32 (a) “Certified reserve peace officer” means a reserve peace 33 officer certified through the Iowa law enforcement academy as 34 provided in section 80D.4 or a person certified pursuant to 35 -1- LSB 2174HH (3) 84 tw/sc 1/ 2

H.F. 289 section 80D.3, subsection 3, paragraph “b” . 1 (b) “Emergency medical services personnel” means an emergency 2 medical care provider who is certified as a first responder 3 pursuant to chapter 147A. 4 (c) “Volunteer fire fighter” means a volunteer fire fighter 5 as defined in section 85.61 who has met the minimum training 6 standards established by the fire service training bureau 7 pursuant to chapter 100B. 8 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE AND APPLICABILITY DATES. This Act takes 9 effect January 1, 2012, for tax years beginning on or after 10 that date. 11 EXPLANATION 12 This bill provides an individual income tax credit of $500 to 13 an individual who was a volunteer fire fighter who has met the 14 minimum training standards, a certified reserve peace officer, 15 or a certified volunteer emergency medical services personnel. 16 The credit is to compensate the individual for providing these 17 services on a volunteer or reserve basis. If the individual 18 was not a volunteer fire fighter, certified reserve peace 19 officer, or volunteer emergency medical services personnel for 20 the entire tax year, the amount of credit is prorated based 21 upon the months of service. A credit may be claimed for only 22 one position per month. 23 The bill takes effect January 1, 2012, for tax years 24 beginning on or after that date. 25 -2- LSB 2174HH (3) 84 tw/sc 2/ 2