NY State Senate Bill 2013-S540

Senate Bill S540

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Exempts the amount of any service award paid to any volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker from personal income tax

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Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2014	referred to investigations and government operations
Jan 09, 2013	referred to investigations and government operations

co-Sponsors

2013-S540 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §612, Tax L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2009-2010: S5420
2011-2012: S4727
2015-2016: S646
2017-2018: S1815
2019-2020: S640
2021-2022: S5111

2013-S540 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Exempts the amount of any service award paid to any volunteer firefighter or ambulance worker from personal income tax.

2013-S540 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S540

TITLE OF BILL:
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

PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
To correct an inequity with comparable benefits by providing that
length of service award benefits for volunteer firefighters and
volunteer ambulance workers be exempt from taxation.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Article 22 of the tax law regarding personal income is amended by
adding new paragraph 3-d to subsection (c) of section 612.

JUSTIFICATION:
Service award programs were created, a means of aiding in the
recruitment and especially the retention of volunteer firefighters
and volunteer ambulance workers.

There is no question that the retention of volunteers has been aided
by the service awards provided by the enactment of the length of
service program law. Unfortunately, the benefits in both the

individual and to fire safety (through retention) are now being
called into question as it becomes known that income that will be
derived will be treated as personal income for taxation purposes.

This bill seeks to correct what is essentially an inequity, both with
respect to the spirit in which the law was created and as compared to
certain other benefits generally available, such as disability
income, social security benefits, and pensions and annuities.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2011-2012: S.4727
2009-2010: A.4450/S.5420
2007-2008: A.4895-B/S.2026-B
2005-2006: A.957-A/S.1908-A
2003-2004: A.2592/S.4109
2001-2002: A.8737/S.4841
1999-2000: A.11007/S.7642

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and apply to taxable years
beginning on and after January 1, 2014.

2013-S540 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   540

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen. KENNEDY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
  ment Operations

AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to exempting the proceeds  from
  service  award programs for volunteer firefighters and ambulance work-
  ers from personal income taxes

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, 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 FIREFIGHT-
ER 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  MUNICI-
PAL 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.
  S 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable
years beginning on and after January 1, 2014.




 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD02427-01-3

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Senate Bill S540

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Sponsored By

Timothy M. Kennedy