The U.S. House 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, the National Volunteer Fire Council said. 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. Taxing these benefits reduces their value as an incentive and creates a significant administrative burden on small municipalities and townships.

On Oct. 17, National Volunteer Fire Council 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.

H.R. 3997 now goes to the Senate, where it will be considered by the Committee on Finance.