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House panel hears bill to give volunteers a $15-an-hour refundable tax credit
Summary
A House Taxation Committee hearing reviewed House Bill 243, which would create a refundable $15-per-hour income tax credit for volunteer emergency responders (up to 100 hours/$1,500). Supporters said it would help retain and recruit volunteers; the Montana Society of CPAs opposed using the tax code to deliver the benefit. No vote was taken.
Representative Steve Gist, sponsor of House Bill 243, told the House Taxation Committee the bill would create a refundable income tax credit for volunteer emergency first responders equal to $15 for each logged hour of service, auditable through dispatch or service logs and capped at 100 hours per taxpayer (a $1,500 maximum). "The credit is equal to $15 an hour for every hour that's logged," Gist said while describing EMS, volunteer fire, search-and-rescue and auxiliary officers as the bill's intended beneficiaries.
Gist said the measure is intended to retain existing volunteers and recruit new ones in Montana's largely rural emergency-response system. He cited fiscal-note estimates presented to the committee,…
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