HARRISBURG – PA House members unanimously passed a bill that would exempt income tax on length-of-service awards for volunteer firefighters. House Bill 1306 would exclude contributions under length-of-service award programs from the definition of income for purposes of the PA Personal Income Tax. Some fire companies are choosing to offer length-of-service award programs to volunteers who remain with the fire company for a specified amount of time. It is one of the tools departments are using to recruit and retain personnel during an ongoing, statewide firefighter shortage. Over 90% of PA’s 2,400 fire companies are volunteer based. The bill now moves to the state Senate.
