What's happening
This bill exempts most service award payments to volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers from New York personal income taxes.
Why it matters
Supports volunteer recruitment and retention. by making service award payments to volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers more financially attractive, potentially encouraging more people to serve in these critical roles.
Improves after-tax retirement benefits. for volunteers who receive service awards as regular payments after age 59½, increasing the real value of these benefits and helping volunteers plan for retirement.
Targets long-term, committed volunteers. by excluding lump-sum payments and awards taken before age 59½, encouraging volunteers to remain in service longer to fully benefit from the tax exemption.
Reduces financial barriers for local governments. seeking to recognize and retain emergency service volunteers, as the tax exemption makes service awards more valuable without increasing local expenditures.
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Who cares
Headline styles
End Taxes on Volunteer Awards
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to ways and means
- Referred to ways and means
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4473
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. DenDEKKER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to exempting the proceeds from service award programs for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers from personal income taxes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 612 of the tax law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3-d to read as follows:
(3-d) The amount of any service award paid to any volunteer firefighter and the amount of any service award paid to any volunteer ambulance worker from the length of service defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans applicable to such workers, as provided for in articles eleven-A, eleven-AA, eleven-AAA, and eleven-AAAA of the general municipal law; provided, however that the exclusion provided in this paragraph shall not apply to a service award that is distributed in the form of a lump sum or that is distributed to a taxpayer that has not attained the age of fifty-nine and one-half.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2021.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02139-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.