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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) "Active volunteer firefighter" means a firefighter who: 6
1. Volunteers for a qualified fire department; 7
2. Is active with a qualified fire department for the entire taxable year for 8
which the credit is claimed; and 9
3. Appears on the list of certified volunteer firefighters provided by the 10
commission pursuant to subsection (4) of this section; 11
(b) "Commission" means the Kentucky Fire Commission; and 12
(c) "Qualified fire department" has the same meaning as in KRS 95A.510. 13
(2) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, but before January 1, 14
2029, a refundable credit shall be allowed for an active volunteer firefighter 15
against the tax imposed by KRS 141.020 in the amount of one thousand dollars 16
($1,000), with the ordering of credits as provided in Section 2 of this Act. 17
(3) (a) The purpose of the credit permitted by subsection (2) of this section is to 18
increase the number of active volunteer firefighters volunteering with a 19
qualified fire department in the Commonwealth. 20
(b) In order for the General Assembly to evaluate the fulfillment of the purpose 21
stated in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the department shall provide the 22
following information on a cumulative basis for each taxable year to 23
provide a historical impact of the tax credit to the Commonwealth: 24
1. The number of taxpayers that claimed the credit for each taxable year; 25
2. The total amount of credit claimed for each taxable year; 26
3. Based on the mailing address of the return, the total amount of credits 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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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 report required by paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be submitted 5
to the Legislative Research Commission and the Interim Joint Committee 6
on Appropriations and Revenue beginning no later than November 1, 2026, 7
and no later than each November 1 thereafter, as long as the credit is 8
claimed on any return processed by the department. 9
(d) The information required to be reported under this subsection shall not be 10
considered confidential taxpayer information and shall not be subject to 11
KRS Chapter 131 or any other provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes 12
prohibiting disclosure or reporting of information. 13
(4) The commission shall provide to the department an annual list of all certified 14
volunteer firefighters on or before January 15, 2025, and on or before every 15
January 15 thereafter as long as the credit permitted by subsection (2) of this 16
section is available. 17
Section 2. KRS 141.0205 is amended to read as follows: 18
If a taxpayer is entitled to more than one (1) of the tax credits allowed against the tax 19
imposed by KRS 141.020, 141.040, and 141.0401, the priority of application and use of 20
the credits shall be determined as follows: 21
(1) The nonrefundable business incentive credits against the tax imposed by KRS 22
141.020 shall be taken in the following order: 23
(a) The limited liability entity tax credit permitted by KRS 141.0401; 24
(b) The economic development credits computed under KRS 141.347, 141.381, 25
141.384, 141.3841, 141.400, 141.403, 141.407, 141.415, 154.12-207, and 26
154.12-2088; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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(c) The qualified farming operation credit permitted by KRS 141.412; 1
(d) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.397(1)(a); 2
(e) The health insurance credit permitted by KRS 141.062; 3
(f) The tax paid to other states credit permitted by KRS 141.070; 4
(g) The credit for hiring the unemployed permitted by KRS 141.065; 5
(h) The recycling or composting equipment credit permitted by KRS 141.390; 6
(i) The tax credit for cash contributions in investment funds permitted by KRS 7
154.20-263 in effect prior to July 15, 2002, and the credit permitted by KRS 8
154.20-258; 9
(j) The research facilities credit permitted by KRS 141.395; 10
(k) The employer High School Equivalency Diploma program incentive credit 11
permitted under KRS 151B.402; 12
(l) The voluntary environmental remediation credit permitted by KRS 141.418; 13
(m) The biodiesel and renewable diesel credit permitted by KRS 141.423; 14
(n) The clean coal incentive credit permitted by KRS 141.428; 15
(o) The ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4242; 16
(p) The cellulosic ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4244; 17
(q) The energy efficiency credits permitted by KRS 141.436; 18
(r) The railroad maintenance and improvement credit permitted by KRS 141.385; 19
(s) The Endow Kentucky credit permitted by KRS 141.438; 20
(t) The New Markets Development Program credit permitted by KRS 141.434; 21
(u) The distilled spirits credit permitted by KRS 141.389; 22
(v) The angel investor credit permitted by KRS 141.396; 23
(w) The film industry credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications approved 24
on or after April 27, 2018, but before January 1, 2022; 25
(x) The inventory credit permitted by KRS 141.408; and 26
(y) The renewable chemical production credit permitted by KRS 141.4231; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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(2) After the application of the nonrefundable credits in subsection (1) of this section, 1
the nonrefundable personal tax credits against the tax imposed by KRS 141.020 2
shall be taken in the following order: 3
(a) The individual credits permitted by KRS 141.020(3); 4
(b) The credit permitted by KRS 141.066; 5
(c) The tuition credit permitted by KRS 141.069; 6
(d) The household and dependent care credit permitted by KRS 141.067; 7
(e) The income gap credit permitted by KRS 141.066; and 8
(f) The Education Opportunity Account Program tax credit permitted by KRS 9
141.522; 10
(3) After the application of the nonrefundable credits provided for in subsection (2) of 11
this section, the refundable credits against the tax imposed by KRS 141.020 shall be 12
taken in the following order: 13
(a) The individual withholding tax credit permitted by KRS 141.350; 14
(b) The individual estimated tax payment credit permitted by KRS 141.305; 15
(c) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.3961, 171.3963, and 16
171.397(1)(b); 17
(d) The film industry tax credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications 18
approved prior to April 27, 2018, or on or after January 1, 2022; 19
(e) The development area tax credit permitted by KRS 141.398; 20
(f) The decontamination tax credit permitted by KRS 141.419;[ and] 21
(g) The pass-through entity tax credit permitted by KRS 141.209; 22
and 23
(h) The volunteer firefighter tax credit permitted by Section 1 of this Act; 24
(4) The nonrefundable credit permitted by KRS 141.0401 shall be applied against the 25
tax imposed by KRS 141.040; 26
(5) The following nonrefundable credits shall be applied against the sum of the tax 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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imposed by KRS 141.040 after subtracting the credit provided for in subsection (4) 1
of this section, and the tax imposed by KRS 141.0401 in the following order: 2
(a) The economic development credits computed under KRS 141.347, 141.381, 3
141.384, 141.3841, 141.400, 141.403, 141.407, 141.415, 154.12-207, and 4
154.12-2088; 5
(b) The qualified farming operation credit permitted by KRS 141.412; 6
(c) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.397(1)(a); 7
(d) The health insurance credit permitted by KRS 141.062; 8
(e) The unemployment credit permitted by KRS 141.065; 9
(f) The recycling or composting equipment credit permitted by KRS 141.390; 10
(g) The coal conversion credit permitted by KRS 141.041; 11
(h) The enterprise zone credit permitted by KRS 154.45-090, for taxable periods 12
ending prior to January 1, 2008; 13
(i) The tax credit for cash contributions to investment funds permitted by KRS 14
154.20-263 in effect prior to July 15, 2002, and the credit permitted by KRS 15
154.20-258; 16
(j) The research facilities credit permitted by KRS 141.395; 17
(k) The employer High School Equivalency Diploma program incentive credit 18
permitted by KRS 151B.402; 19
(l) The voluntary environmental remediation credit permitted by KRS 141.418; 20
(m) The biodiesel and renewable diesel credit permitted by KRS 141.423; 21
(n) The clean coal incentive credit permitted by KRS 141.428; 22
(o) The ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4242; 23
(p) The cellulosic ethanol credit permitted by KRS 141.4244; 24
(q) The energy efficiency credits permitted by KRS 141.436; 25
(r) The ENERGY STAR home or ENERGY STAR manufactured home credit 26
permitted by KRS 141.437; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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(s) The railroad maintenance and improvement credit permitted by KRS 141.385; 1
(t) The railroad expansion credit permitted by KRS 141.386; 2
(u) The Endow Kentucky credit permitted by KRS 141.438; 3
(v) The New Markets Development Program credit permitted by KRS 141.434; 4
(w) The distilled spirits credit permitted by KRS 141.389; 5
(x) The film industry credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications approved 6
on or after April 27, 2018, but before January 1, 2022; 7
(y) The inventory credit permitted by KRS 141.408; 8
(z) The renewable chemical production tax credit permitted by KRS 141.4231; 9
and 10
(aa) The Education Opportunity Account Program tax credit permitted by KRS 11
141.522; and 12
(6) After the application of the nonrefundable credits in subsection (5) of this section, 13
the refundable credits shall be taken in the following order: 14
(a) The corporation estimated tax payment credit permitted by KRS 141.044; 15
(b) The certified rehabilitation credit permitted by KRS 171.3961, 171.3963, and 16
171.397(1)(b); 17
(c) The film industry tax credit permitted by KRS 141.383 for applications 18
approved prior to April 27, 2018, or on or after January 1, 2022; 19
(d) The decontamination tax credit permitted by KRS 141.419; and 20
(e) The pass-through entity tax credit permitted by KRS 141.209. 21
Section 3. KRS 131.190 is amended to read as follows: 22
(1) No present or former commissioner or employee of the department, present or 23
former member of a county board of assessment appeals, present or former property 24
valuation administrator or employee, present or former secretary or employee of the 25
Finance and Administration Cabinet, former secretary or employee of the Revenue 26
Cabinet, or any other person, shall intentionally and without authorization inspect 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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or divulge any information acquired by him or her of the affairs of any person, or 1
information regarding the tax schedules, returns, or reports required to be filed with 2
the department or other proper officer, or any information produced by a hearing or 3
investigation, insofar as the information may have to do with the affairs of the 4
person's business. 5
(2) The prohibition established by subsection (1) of this section shall not extend to: 6
(a) Information required in prosecutions for making false reports or returns of 7
property for taxation, or any other infraction of the tax laws; 8
(b) Any matter properly entered upon any assessment record, or in any way made 9
a matter of public record; 10
(c) Furnishing any taxpayer or his or her properly authorized agent with 11
information respecting his or her own return; 12
(d) Testimony provided by the commissioner or any employee of the department 13
in any court, or the introduction as evidence of returns or reports filed with the 14
department, in an action for violation of state or federal tax laws or in any 15
action challenging state or federal tax laws; 16
(e) Providing an owner of unmined coal, oil or gas reserves, and other mineral or 17
energy resources assessed under KRS 132.820, or owners of surface land 18
under which the unmined minerals lie, factual information about the owner's 19
property derived from third-party returns filed for that owner's property, under 20
the provisions of KRS 132.820, that is used to determine the owner's 21
assessment. This information shall be provided to the owner on a confidential 22
basis, and the owner shall be subject to the penalties provided in KRS 23
131.990(2). The third-party filer shall be given prior notice of any disclosure 24
of information to the owner that was provided by the third-party filer; 25
(f) Providing to a third-party purchaser pursuant to an order entered in a 26
foreclosure action filed in a court of competent jurisdiction, factual 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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information related to the owner or lessee of coal, oil, gas reserves, or any 1
other mineral resources assessed under KRS 132.820. The department may 2
promulgate an administrative regulation establishing a fee schedule for the 3
provision of the information described in this paragraph. Any fee imposed 4
shall not exceed the greater of the actual cost of providing the information or 5
ten dollars ($10); 6
(g) Providing information to a licensing agency, the Transportation Cabinet, or 7
the Kentucky Supreme Court under KRS 131.1817; 8
(h) Statistics of gasoline and special fuels gallonage reported to the department 9
under KRS 138.210 to 138.448; 10
(i) Providing any utility gross receipts license tax return information that is 11
necessary to administer the provisions of KRS 160.613 to 160.617 to 12
applicable school districts on a confidential basis; 13
(j) Providing documents, data, or other information to a third party pursuant to an 14
order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; or 15
(k) Providing information to the Legislative Research Commission under: 16
1. KRS 139.519 for purposes of the sales and use tax refund on building 17
materials used for disaster recovery; 18
2. KRS 141.436 for purposes of the energy efficiency products credits; 19
3. KRS 141.437 for purposes of the ENERGY STAR home and the 20
ENERGY STAR manufactured home credits; 21
4. KRS 141.383 for purposes of the film industry incentives; 22
5. KRS 154.26-095 for purposes of the Kentucky industrial revitalization 23
tax credits and the job assessment fees; 24
6. KRS 141.068 for purposes of the Kentucky investment fund; 25
7. KRS 141.396 for purposes of the angel investor tax credit; 26
8. KRS 141.389 for purposes of the distilled spirits credit; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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9. KRS 141.408 for purposes of the inventory credit; 1
10. KRS 141.390 for purposes of the recycling and composting credit; 2
11. KRS 141.3841 for purposes of the selling farmer tax credit; 3
12. KRS 141.4231 for purposes of the renewable chemical production tax 4
credit; 5
13. KRS 141.524 for purposes of the Education Opportunity Account 6
Program tax credit; 7
14. KRS 141.398 for purposes of the development area tax credit; 8
15. KRS 139.516 for the purposes of the sales and use tax exemption on the 9
commercial mining of cryptocurrency;[ and] 10
16. KRS 141.419 for purposes of the decontamination tax credit; and 11
17. Section 1 of this Act for purposes of the volunteer firefighter tax 12
credit. 13
(3) The commissioner shall make available any information for official use only and on 14
a confidential basis to the proper officer, agency, board or commission of this state, 15
any Kentucky county, any Kentucky city, any other state, or the federal 16
government, under reciprocal agreements whereby the department shall receive 17
similar or useful information in return. 18
(4) Access to and inspection of information received from the Internal Revenue Service 19
is for department use only, and is restricted to tax administration purposes. 20
Information received from the Internal Revenue Service shall not be made available 21
to any other agency of state government, or any county, city, or other state, and 22
shall not be inspected intentionally and without authorization by any present 23
secretary or employee of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, commissioner or 24
employee of the department, or any other person. 25
(5) Statistics of crude oil as reported to the department under the crude oil excise tax 26
requirements of KRS Chapter 137 and statistics of natural gas production as 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1251
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reported to the department under the natural resources severance tax requirements 1
of KRS Chapter 143A may be made public by the department by release to the 2
Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Natural Resources. 3
(6) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, beginning with mine-map 4
submissions for the 1989 tax year, the department may make public or divulge only 5
those portions of mine maps submitted by taxpayers to the department pursuant to 6
KRS Chapter 132 for ad valorem tax purposes that depict the boundaries of mined-7
out parcel areas. These electronic maps shall not be relied upon to determine actual 8
boundaries of mined-out parcel areas. Property boundaries contained in mine maps 9
required under KRS Chapters 350 and 352 shall not be construed to constitute land 10
surveying or boundary surveys as defined by KRS 322.010 and any administrative 11
regulations promulgated thereto. 12