Provides gross income tax credit for volunteer first responders who incur costs for child care services.

A4949

ASSEMBLY, No. 4949

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� LUANNE M. PETERPAUL

District 11 (Monmouth)

SYNOPSIS

���� Provides gross income tax credit for volunteer first
responders who incur costs for child care services.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
providing a gross income tax credit to volunteer first
responders for cost of certain child care services and supplementing chapter 4
of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� A taxpayer who is a
volunteer first responder shall be allowed a credit against the tax otherwise
due under the �New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act,� N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., in an
amount equal to 50 percent of the child care expenses incurred by the taxpayer
during a taxable year.� The value of the credit allowed pursuant to this
section shall not exceed $5,000 per taxpayer per taxable year.� A taxpayer
shall only be eligible to receive the credit allowed pursuant to this section
if the taxpayer has worked a minimum of 150 hours during the taxable year,
including any required training hours, in their official capacities as a
volunteer first responder.

���� b.��� To claim the credit
allowed pursuant to this section, the taxpayer shall attach documentation to
any return which the taxpayer is required to file under N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq.,
in a form and manner prescribed by the director, substantiating the taxpayer�s
eligibility for the credit and child care expenses incurred by the taxpayer
during the taxable year.

���� c.���� The order of priority
of the application of the credit allowed pursuant to this section and any other
credits allowed by law shall be as prescribed by the director.� The amount of
the credit applied under this section against the tax imposed pursuant to N.J.S.54A:1-1
et seq. for a taxable year, together with other payments, credits, deductions,
and adjustments allowed by law, shall not reduce a taxpayer�s tax liability to
an amount lower than zero.

���� d.��� As used in this section:

���� "Child care expenses"
means the actual costs incurred by a taxpayer for the provision of child care
services for a dependent of the taxpayer, including, but not limited to:� costs
incurred for hiring a caregiver to provide in-home or out-of-home child care
services; costs incurred for the provision of child care services at a licensed
child care facility, including a day care center; and any costs associated with
after school care and after school programs, nursery school, preschool, and day
camps.

���� "Volunteer first
responder" means a volunteer firefighter or a volunteer member of a duly
incorporated first aid, emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad association.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and apply to taxable years beginning on or after the January
1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill provides a gross
income tax credit to qualifying volunteer first responders who incur child care
expenses during a taxable year.

���� The amount of the credit
allowed to a volunteer first responder would be equal to 50 percent of child
care expenses incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year, up to $5,000.�
Under the bill, a volunteer first responder would be required to have worked
for at least 150 hours during the taxable year, including hours spent in
training, in their official capacities as a volunteer first responder.� In
order to receive a tax credit, a volunteer first responder would be required to
submit documentation in a form and manner prescribed by the Director of the
Division of Taxation to substantiate the taxpayer�s eligibility for the tax
credit, as well as the child care expenses incurred during the taxable year.

���� Under the bill, �volunteer
first responder� includes a volunteer firefighter or a volunteer member of a
duly incorporated first aid, emergency, ambulance, or rescue squad
association.� The bill also defines �child care expenses� to include the actual
costs incurred by a taxpayer for the provision of child care services for a
dependent of the taxpayer, including, but not limited to:� costs incurred for
hiring a caregiver to provide in-home or out-of-home child care services; costs
incurred for the provision of child care services at a licensed child care
facility, including a day care center; and any costs associated with after
school care and after school programs, nursery school, preschool, and day
camps.