Section 40-18-480 through Section 40-18-481, Code of Alabama 1975

Section 40-18-480 provides a tax credit for qualifying emergency responders who meet certain training requirements each year. Questions about eligibility and qualifications should be directed to incentives@revenue.alabama.gov or 334-353-9789.

Provisions of the Volunteer Emergency Responders Tax Credit include:

• The credit can be applied against individual income tax.
• The credit is available for each year beginning January 1, 2023, until December 31, 2027, unless extended by legislature.

Qualifying emergency responders must:

• Be certified as a Volunteer Firefighter or Volunteer Firefighter II by the Alabama Firefighter’s Personnel Standards and Education Commission as a firefighter or be licensed by the Alabama Department of Public Health as an EMT-Basic, Advanced EMT, or EMT-Paramedic.
• Complete a minimum of 30 hours of approved training each year.
• Be an active member of an eligible department.

Eligible departments include:

• Volunteer or combination fire departments certified by the State Forestry Commission.
• Rescue squads operating as a public corporation which are also members of the Alabama Association of Rescue Squads (AARS).
• Rescue squads of a city, town, county or other subdivision of the state.

Credit amounts:

• A $300 credit is available to qualifying responders certified as a Volunteer Firefighter and/or licensed as an EMT-Basic.
• A $600 credit is available to qualifying responders certified as a Firefighter II or licensed as an Advanced EMT and/or EMT-Paramedic.

The credit cannot reduce a taxpayer’s tax liability below zero and is neither refundable nor transferrable.

Qualifying emergency responders applying for the credit must submit a completed credit certificate to the Department of Revenue. The certificate must be signed by a certifying supervisor confirming the requirements of the credit have been met.

To utilize the credit on your individual income tax return, a credit claim request must be submitted via My Alabama Taxes prior to the filing of your tax return. Once approved, your return should be filed, and the credit claimed on Schedule OC.

Additional Resources

• Act 2022-298
• Volunteer Emergency Responders Credit Certificate
• Voluntary Emergency Responders Rules