Deductions & credits
Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act (VRIPA) exempts nominal volunteer recruitment and retention incentives from being subject to federal income tax and reporting requirements for the 2020 tax year. Specifically, H.R. 1865 exempts property tax benefits and up to $600 per year in other incentives, such as stipends, that volunteer fire and EMS personnel receive as a reward for their service.
When a volunteer emergency responder incurs expenses in connection with his performance as an emergency responder, he or she can deduct those expenses as a charitable contribution to the extent that the expenses exceed the amount of any qualified payment excluded from gross income and to the extent that the volunteer emergency response organization is a qualified charity under section 170.
The following is a suggested way to remove the $600, if you believe it is included in your W-2. The maximum allowable exclusion is $600 as noted above.
- Sign into your TurboTax account
- Under Wages and Income > Scroll to Less Common Income > Select Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C
- Start/Revisit or Update > Select Other Reportable Income > Start/Revisit or Update
- Enter your description and amount as shown below (use a minus sign in front of the number)
