H.R. 5905

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5905 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5905

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable 
deduction for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency 
medical and rescue personnel.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 4, 2025

Mr. Bresnahan (for himself and Mr. Harder of California) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a charitable 
deduction for the service of volunteer firefighters and emergency 
medical and rescue personnel.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Our Heroes Act''.

SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE OF CHARITABLE DEDUCTION FOR THE SERVICE OF VOLUNTEER 
FIREFIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL AND RESCUE PERSONNEL.

(a) In General.--Section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (q) as subsection (r), and
(2) by inserting after subsection (p) the following new 
subsection:
``(q) Service of Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical 
Personnel Treated as Charitable Contribution.--
``(1) In general.--Each hour of qualified services rendered 
by an individual as a bona fide volunteer shall be treated for 
purposes of this section as a contribution of $20 to the 
organization to which such services are rendered.
``(2) Limitation.--Not more than 300 hours of qualified 
services shall be taken into account under paragraph (1) with 
respect to any individual for any taxable year.
``(3) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection--
``(A) Bona fide volunteer.--An individual shall be 
treated as a bona fide volunteer if the only 
compensation received by such individual for performing 
qualified services is in the form of--
``(i) reimbursement for (or a reasonable 
allowance for) reasonable expenses incurred in 
the performance of such services, or
``(ii) reasonable benefits (including 
length of service awards), and fees for such 
services, customarily paid by eligible 
employers in connection with the performance of 
such services by volunteers.
``(B) Qualified services.--The term `qualified 
services' means fire fighting and prevention services, 
emergency medical and rescue services, ambulance 
services, civil air patrol, and search and rescue 
services. Such term shall include all training and 
training-related activities related to the services 
described in the preceding sentence which are required 
or authorized by the organization referred to in 
paragraph (1).
``(4) Verification.--A contribution to which this 
subsection applies shall be verified in such manner as the 
Secretary may provide.
``(5) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of any taxable 
year beginning in a calendar year after 2026, the $20 amount 
contained in paragraph (1) shall be increased by an amount 
equal to--
``(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by
``(B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 
under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 
the taxable year begins determined by substituting 
`calendar year 2025' for `calendar year 2016' in 
subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
Any increase determined under the preceding sentence which is 
not a multiple of $1 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple 
of $1.
``(6) Exclusion for members of congress.--Services rendered 
during any period with respect to which such individual is a 
Member of Congress (as defined in section 2106 of title 5, 
United States Code) shall not be treated as qualified services 
for purposes of this subsection.''.
(b) Allowance of Deduction to Individuals Who Do Not Elect To 
Itemize Deductions.--Section 63(b) of such Code is amended by striking 
paragraph (4) and inserting the following new paragraph:
``(4) so much of the deduction allowed under section 170 
for the taxable year as does not exceed the amount of such 
deduction which would be determined if only contributions 
treated as made under section 170(q) by reason of services 
rendered during such taxable year were taken into account.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
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