AN ACT relating to a tax credit for volunteer firefighters.

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AN ACT relating to a tax credit for volunteer firefighters. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 141 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) As used in this section: 5
(a) "Commission" means the Kentucky Fire Commission; 6
(b) "Qualified fire department" has the same meaning as in KRS 95A.510; and 7
(c) "Volunteer firefighter" means a firefighter who: 8
1. Volunteers for a qualified fire department; 9
2. Is active with a qualified fire department for the entire taxable year for 10
which the credit is claimed; and 11
3. Appears on the list of certified volunteer fir efighters provided by the 12
commission pursuant to subsection (4) of this section; 13
(2) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, but before January 1, 14
2031, a refundable credit shall be allowed for a volunteer firefighter against the 15
tax impos ed by KRS 141.020 in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000), 16
with the ordering of credits as provided in Section 2 of this Act. 17
(3) (a) The purpose of the credit permitted by this section is to increase the number 18
of volunteer firefighters volunteering with a qualified fire department in the 19
Commonwealth. 20
(b) By November 1 of each year in which a volunteer firefighter credit is 21
claimed, the department shall report to the Legislative Research 22
Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on App ropriations 23
and Revenue: 24
1. The number of taxpayers that claimed the credit for each taxable year; 25
2. The total amount of credits claimed for each taxable year; 26
3. Based on the mailing address of the return, the total amount of credits 27
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claimed by county; and 1
4. Based on ranges of adjusted gross income of no larger than five 2
thousand dollars ($5,000), the total amount of credits claimed for each 3
adjusted gross income range. 4
(c) The information required to be reported under this subsection shall not be 5
considered confidential taxpayer information and shall not be subject to 6
KRS Chapter 131 or any other provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes 7
prohibiting disclosure or reporting of information. 8
(4) The commission shall provide to the department an annual lis t of all certified 9
volunteer firefighters on or before January 15, 2028, and on or before every 10
January 15 thereafter as long as the credit permitted by this section is available. 11
Section 2. KRS 141.0205 is amended to read as follows: 12
If a taxpayer is entitled to more than one (1) of the tax credits allowed against the tax 13
imposed by KRS 141.020, 141.040, and 141.0401, the priority of application and use of 14
the credits shall be determined as follows: 15
(1) The nonrefundable business incentive credits against the tax imposed by KRS 16
141.020 shall be taken in the following order: 17
(a) The limited liability entity tax credit permitted by KRS 141.0401; 18
(b) The economic development credits computed under KRS 141.347, 141.381, 19
141.384, 141.3841, 141.400, 141.403, 141.407, 141.415, 154.12 -207, and 20
154.12-2088; 21
(c) The qualified farming operation credit permitted by KRS 141.412; 22
(d) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.397(1)(a); 23
(e) The health insurance credit permitted by KRS 141.062; 24
(f) The tax paid to other states credit permitted by KRS 141.070; 25
(g) The credit for hiring the unemployed permitted by KRS 141.065; 26
(h) The recycling or composting equipment credit permitted by KRS 141.390; 27
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(i) The [tax ]credit for cash contributions in investment funds permitted by KRS 1
154.20-263 in effect prior to July 15, 2002, and the credit permitted by KRS 2
154.20-258; 3
(j) The research facilities credit permitted by KRS 141.395; 4
(k) The employer High School Equivalenc y Diploma program incentive credit 5
permitted under KRS 151B.402; 6
(l) The voluntary environmental remediation credit permitted by KRS 141.418; 7
(m) The biodiesel and renewable diesel credit permitted by KRS 141.423; 8
(n) The clean coal incentive credit permitted by KRS 141.428; 9
(o) The ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4242; 10
(p) The cellulosic ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4244; 11
(q) The energy efficiency credits permitted by KRS 141.436; 12
(r) The railroad maintenance and improvement credit permitted by KRS 141.385; 13
(s) The Endow Kentucky credit permitted by KRS 141.438; 14
(t) The New Markets Development Program credit permitted by KRS 141.434; 15
(u) The distilled spirits credit permitted by KRS 141.389; 16
(v) The angel investor credit permitted by KRS 141.396; 17
(w) The film industry credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications approved 18
on or after April 27, 2018, but before January 1, 2022; 19
(x) The inventory credit permitted by KRS 141.408; 20
(y) The renewable chemical production credit permitted by KRS 141.4231; and 21
(z) The qualified broadband investment [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 141.391; 22
(2) After the application of the nonrefundable credits in subsection (1) of this section, 23
the nonrefundable personal tax credits against the tax imposed by KRS 141.020 24
shall be taken in the following order: 25
(a) The individual credits permitted by KRS 141.020(3); 26
(b) The credit permitted by KRS 141.066; 27
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(c) The tuition credit permitted by KRS 141.069; 1
(d) The household and dependent care credit permitted by KRS 141.067; 2
(e) The income gap credit permitted by KRS 141.066; and 3
(f) The Education Opportunity Account Program [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 4
141.522; 5
(3) After the application of the nonrefundable credits provided for in subsection (2) of 6
this section, the refundable credits against the tax imposed by KRS 141.020 shall be 7
taken in the following order: 8
(a) The individual withholding tax credit permitted by KRS 141.350; 9
(b) The individual estimated tax payment credit permitted by KRS 141.305; 10
(c) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.3961, 171.3963, and 11
171.397(1)(b); 12
(d) The film industry [tax ] credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications 13
approved prior to April 27, 2018, or on or after January 1, 2022; 14
(e) The development area [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 141.398; 15
(f) The decontamination [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 141.419;[ and] 16
(g) The pass-through entity tax credit permitted by KRS 141.209; and 17
(h) The volunteer firefighter credit permitted by Section 1 of this Act; 18
(4) The nonrefundable credit permitted by KRS 141.0401 shall be applied against the 19
tax imposed by KRS 141.040; 20
(5) The following nonrefundable credits shall be applied against the sum of the tax 21
imposed by KRS 141.040 after subtracting the credit provided f or in subsection (4) 22
of this section, and the tax imposed by KRS 141.0401 in the following order: 23
(a) The economic development credits computed under KRS 141.347, 141.381, 24
141.384, 141.3841, 141.400, 141.403, 141.407, 141.415, 154.12 -207, and 25
154.12-2088; 26
(b) The qualified farming operation credit permitted by KRS 141.412; 27
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(c) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.397(1)(a); 1
(d) The health insurance credit permitted by KRS 141.062; 2
(e) The unemployment credit permitted by KRS 141.065; 3
(f) The recycling or composting equipment credit permitted by KRS 141.390; 4
(g) The coal conversion credit permitted by KRS 141.041; 5
(h) The enterprise zone credit permitted by KRS 154.45 -090, for taxable periods 6
ending prior to January 1, 2008; 7
(i) The [tax ]credit for cash contributions to investment funds permitted by KRS 8
154.20-263 in effect prior to July 15, 2002, and the credit permitted by KRS 9
154.20-258; 10
(j) The research facilities credit permitted by KRS 141.395; 11
(k) The employer High School Equivalenc y Diploma program incentive credit 12
permitted by KRS 151B.402; 13
(l) The voluntary environmental remediation credit permitted by KRS 141.418; 14
(m) The biodiesel and renewable diesel credit permitted by KRS 141.423; 15
(n) The clean coal incentive credit permitted by KRS 141.428; 16
(o) The ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4242; 17
(p) The cellulosic ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4244; 18
(q) The energy efficiency credits permitted by KRS 141.436; 19
(r) The ENERGY STAR home or ENERGY STAR manufactured home credit 20
permitted by KRS 141.437; 21
(s) The railroad maintenance and improvement credit permitted by KRS 141.385; 22
(t) The railroad expansion credit permitted by KRS 141.386; 23
(u) The Endow Kentucky credit permitted by KRS 141.438; 24
(v) The New Markets Development Program credit permitted by KRS 141.434; 25
(w) The distilled spirits credit permitted by KRS 141.389; 26
(x) The film industry credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications a pproved 27
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on or after April 27, 2018, but before January 1, 2022; 1
(y) The inventory credit permitted by KRS 141.408; 2
(z) The renewable chemical production [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 141.4231; 3
(aa) The Education Opportunity Account Program [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 4
141.522; and 5
(ab) The qualified broadband investment [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 141.391; 6
and 7
(6) After the application of the nonrefundable credits in subsection (5) of this section, 8
the refundable credits shall be taken in the following order: 9
(a) The corporation estimated tax payment credit permitted by KRS 141.044; 10
(b) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.3961, 171.3963, and 11
171.397(1)(b); 12
(c) The film industry [tax ] credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications 13
approved prior to April 27, 2018, or on or after January 1, 2022; 14
(d) The decontamination [tax ]credit permitted by KRS 141.419; and 15
(e) The pass-through entity tax credit permitted by KRS 141.209. 16
Section 3. KRS 131.190 is amended to read as follows: 17
(1) No present or former commissioner or employee of the department, present or 18
former member of a county board of assessment appeals, present or former property 19
valuation administrator or employee, present or former secretary or employee of the 20
Finance and Administration Cabinet, former secretary or employee of the Revenue 21
Cabinet, or any other person, shall intentionally and without authorization inspect 22
or divulge any information acquired by him or her of the affairs of any person, or 23
information regarding the tax schedules, returns, or reports required to be filed with 24
the department or other proper officer, or any information produced by a hearing or 25
investigation, insofar as the information may have to do with the affairs of the 26
person's business. 27
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(2) The prohibition established by subsection (1) of this section shall not extend to: 1
(a) Information required in prosecutions for making false reports or returns of 2
property for taxation, or any other infraction of the tax laws; 3
(b) Any matter properly entered upon any assessment record, or in any way made 4
a matter of public record; 5
(c) Furnishing any taxpayer or his or her properly authorized agent with 6
information respecting his or her own return; 7
(d) Testimony provided by the commissioner or any employee of the department 8
in any court, or the introduction as evidence of returns or reports filed with the 9
department, in an action for violation of state or federal tax laws or in any 10
action challenging state or federal tax laws; 11
(e) Providing an owner of unmined coal, oil or gas reserves, and other mineral or 12
energy resources assessed under KRS 132.820, or owners of surface land 13
under which the unmined minerals lie, factual information about the owner's 14
property derived from third-party returns filed for that owner's property, under 15
the provisions of KRS 132.820, that is used to determine the owner's 16
assessment. This information shall be provided to the owner on a confidential 17
basis, and the owner shall be subject to the penalties pr ovided in KRS 18
131.990(2). The third -party filer shall be given prior notice of any disclosure 19
of information to the owner that was provided by the third-party filer; 20
(f) Providing to a third -party purchaser pursuant to an order entered in a 21
foreclosure act ion filed in a court of competent jurisdiction, factual 22
information related to the owner or lessee of coal, oil, gas reserves, or any 23
other mineral resources assessed under KRS 132.820. The department may 24
promulgate an administrative regulation establishin g a fee schedule for the 25
provision of the information described in this paragraph. Any fee imposed 26
shall not exceed the greater of the actual cost of providing the information or 27
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ten dollars ($10); 1
(g) Providing information to a licensing agency, the Trans portation Cabinet, or 2
the Kentucky Supreme Court under KRS 131.1817; 3
(h) Statistics of gasoline and special fuels gallonage reported to the department 4
under KRS 138.210 to 138.448; 5
(i) Providing any utility gross receipts license tax return information tha t is 6
necessary to administer the provisions of KRS 160.613 to 160.617 to 7
applicable school districts on a confidential basis; 8
(j) Providing documents, data, or other information to a third party pursuant to an 9
order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; 10
(k) Publishing administrative writings on its official website in accordance with 11
KRS 131.020(1)(b); or 12
(l) Providing information to the Legislative Research Commission under: 13
1. KRS 139.519 for purposes of the sales and use tax refund on building 14
materials used for disaster recovery; 15
2. KRS 141.436 for purposes of the energy efficiency products credits; 16
3. KRS 141.437 for purposes of the ENERGY STAR home and the 17
ENERGY STAR manufactured home credits; 18
4. KRS 141.383 for purposes of the film industry incentives; 19
5. KRS 154.26 -095 for purposes of the Kentucky industrial revitalization 20
credit and the job assessment fees; 21
6. KRS 141.068 for purposes of the Kentucky investment fund; 22
7. KRS 141.396 for purposes of the angel investor credit; 23
8. KRS 141.389 for purposes of the distilled spirits credit; 24
9. KRS 141.408 for purposes of the inventory credit; 25
10. KRS 141.390 for purposes of the recycling and composting credits; 26
11. KRS 141.3841 for purposes of the selling farmer credit; 27
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12. KRS 141.4231 for purposes of the renewable chemical production 1
credit; 2
13. KRS 141.524 for purposes of the Education Opportunity Account 3
Program credit; 4
14. KRS 141.398 for purposes of the development area credit; 5
15. KRS 139.516 for purposes of the sales and use tax exemptions for the 6
commercial mining of cryptocurrency; 7
16. KRS 141.419 for purposes of the decontamination credit; 8
17. KRS 141.391 for purposes of the qualified broadband investment credit; 9
18. KRS 139 .499 for purposes of the sales and use tax exemptions for a 10
qualified data center project; and 11
19. KRS 139.5325 for purposes of the sales and use tax incentive for a 12
qualifying attraction; and 13
20. Section 1 of this Act for purposes of the volunteer firefighter credit. 14
(3) The commissioner shall make available any information for official use only and on 15
a confidential basis to the proper officer, agency, board or commission of this state, 16
any Kentucky county, any Kentucky city, any other state, or the feder al 17
government, under reciprocal agreements whereby the department shall receive 18
similar or useful information in return. 19
(4) Access to and inspection of information received from the Internal Revenue Service 20
is for department use only, and is restricted to tax administration purposes. 21
Information received from the Internal Revenue Service shall not be made available 22
to any other agency of state government, or any county, city, or other state, and 23
shall not be inspected intentionally and without authorizatio n by any present 24
secretary or employee of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, commissioner or 25
employee of the department, or any other person. 26
(5) Statistics of crude oil as reported to the department under the crude oil excise tax 27
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requirements of KRS Chapter 137 and statistics of natural gas production as 1
reported to the department under the natural resources severance tax requirements 2
of KRS Chapter 143A may be made public by the department by release to the 3
Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Natural Resources. 4
(6) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, beginning with mine -map 5
submissions for the 1989 tax year, the department may make public or divulge only 6
those portions of mine maps submitted by taxpayers to the department pursuant to 7
KRS Chapter 132 for ad valorem tax purposes that depict the boundaries of mined -8
out parcel areas. These electronic maps shall not be relied upon to determine actual 9
boundaries of mined -out parcel areas. Property boundaries contained in mine map s 10
required under KRS Chapters 350 and 352 shall not be construed to constitute land 11
surveying or boundary surveys as defined by KRS 322.010 and any administrative 12
regulations promulgated thereto. 13
Section 4. KRS 131.190 is amended to read as follows:(1) No present or former 14
commissioner or employee of the department, present or former member of a county 15
board of assessment appeals, present or former property valuation administrator or 16
employee, present or former secretary or employee of the Finance and Administration 17
Cabinet, former secretary or employee of the Revenue Cabinet, or any other person, shall 18
intentionally and without authorization inspect or divulge any information acquired by 19
him or her of the affairs of any p erson, or information regarding the tax schedules, 20
returns, or reports required to be filed with the department or other proper officer, or any 21
information produced by a hearing or investigation, insofar as the information may have 22
to do with the affairs of the person's business. 23
(2) The prohibition established by subsection (1) of this section shall not extend to: 24
(a) Information required in prosecutions for making false reports or returns of 25
property for taxation, or any other infraction of the tax laws; 26
(b) Any matter properly entered upon any assessment record, or in any way made 27
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a matter of public record; 1
(c) Furnishing any taxpayer or his or her properly authorized agent with 2
information respecting his or her own return; 3
(d) Testimony provided by the commissioner or any employee of the department 4
in any court, or the introduction as evidence of returns or reports filed with the 5
department, in an action for violation of state or federal tax laws or in any 6
action challenging state or federal tax laws; 7
(e) Providing an owner of unmined coal, oil or gas reserves, and other mineral or 8
energy resources assessed under KRS 1 32.820, or owners of surface land 9
under which the unmined minerals lie, factual information about the owner's 10
property derived from third-party returns filed for that owner's property, under 11
the provisions of KRS 132.820, that is used to determine the owne r's 12
assessment. This information shall be provided to the owner on a confidential 13
basis, and the owner shall be subject to the penalties provided in KRS 14
131.990(2). The third -party filer shall be given prior notice of any disclosure 15
of information to the owner that was provided by the third-party filer; 16
(f) Providing to a third -party purchaser pursuant to an order entered in a 17
foreclosure action filed in a court of competent jurisdiction, factual 18
information related to the owner or lessee of coal, oil, gas reserves, or any 19
other mineral resources assessed under KRS 132.820. The department may 20
promulgate an administrative regulation establishing a fee schedule for the 21
provision of the information described in this paragraph. Any fee imposed 22
shall not exceed t he greater of the actual cost of providing the information or 23
ten dollars ($10); 24
(g) Providing information to a licensing agency, the Transportation Cabinet, or 25
the Kentucky Supreme Court under KRS 131.1817; 26
(h) Statistics of gasoline and special fuels gal lonage reported to the department 27
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under KRS 138.210 to 138.448; 1
(i) Providing any utility gross receipts license tax return information that is 2
necessary to administer the provisions of KRS 160.613 to 160.617 to 3
applicable school districts on a confidential basis; 4
(j) Providing documents, data, or other information to a third party pursuant to an 5
order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; 6
(k) Publishing administrative writings on its official website in accordance with 7
KRS 131.020(1)(b); or 8
(l) Providing information to the Legislative Research Commission under: 9
1. KRS 139.519 for purposes of the sales and use tax refund on building 10
materials used for disaster recovery; 11
2. KRS 141.436 for purposes of the energy efficiency products credits; 12
3. KRS 141. 437 for purposes of the ENERGY STAR home and the 13
ENERGY STAR manufactured home credits; 14
4. KRS 141.383 for purposes of the film industry incentives; 15
5. KRS 154.26 -095 for purposes of the Kentucky industrial revitalization 16
credit and the job assessment fees; 17
6. KRS 141.068 for purposes of the Kentucky investment fund; 18
7. KRS 141.396 for purposes of the angel investor credit; 19
8. KRS 141.389 for purposes of the distilled spirits credit; 20
9. KRS 141.408 for purposes of the inventory credit; 21
10. KRS 141.390 for purposes of the recycling and composting credits; 22
11. KRS 141.3841 for purposes of the selling farmer credit; 23
12. KRS 141.4231 for purposes of the renewable chemical production 24
credit; 25
13. KRS 141.524 for purposes of the Education Opportunity Account 26
Program credit; 27
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14. KRS 141.398 for purposes of the development area credit; 1
15. KRS 139.516 for purposes of the sales and use tax exemptions for the 2
commercial mining of cryptocurrency; 3
16. KRS 141.419 for purposes of the decontamination credit; 4
17. KRS 141.391 for purposes of the qualified broadband investment credit; 5
18. KRS 139.499 for purposes of the sales and use tax exemptions for a 6
qualified data center project;[ and] 7
19. KRS 139.5325 for purposes of the sales and use tax incentive for a 8
qualifying attraction; and 9
20. Section 1 of this Act for purposes of the volunteer firefighter credit. 10
(3) The commissioner shall make available any information for official use only and on 11
a confidential basis to the proper officer, agency, board or commission of this state, 12
any Kentucky county, any Kentucky city, any other state, or the federal 13
government, under reciprocal agreements whereby the department shall receive 14
similar or useful information in return. 15
(4) Access to and inspection of information received from the Internal Revenue Service 16
is for department use only, and is restricted to t ax administration purposes. 17
Information received from the Internal Revenue Service shall not be made available 18
to any other agency of state government, or any county, city, or other state, and 19
shall not be inspected intentionally and without authorization by any present 20
secretary or employee of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, commissioner or 21
employee of the department, or any other person. 22
(5) Statistics of crude oil as reported to the department under the crude oil excise tax 23
requirements of KRS Ch apter 137 and statistics of natural gas production as 24
reported to the department under the natural resources severance tax requirements 25
of KRS Chapter 143A may be made public by the department by release to the 26
Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Natural Resources. 27
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(6) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, beginning with mine -map 1
submissions for the 1989 tax year, the department may make public or divulge only 2
those portions of mine maps submitted by taxpayers to the department pu rsuant to 3
KRS Chapter 132 for ad valorem tax purposes that depict the boundaries of mined -4
out parcel areas. These electronic maps shall not be relied upon to determine actual 5
boundaries of mined -out parcel areas. Property boundaries contained in mine maps 6
required under KRS Chapters 350 and 352 shall not be construed to constitute land 7
surveying or boundary surveys as defined by KRS 322.010 and any administrative 8
regulations promulgated thereto. 9