Oregon Volunteer EMT Tax Credit

The 2005 Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 31, which grants up to $250 in personal income tax credit beginning with tax year 2006, to eligible EMTs who volunteer their services to rural Oregon communities.

Once your initial application has been reviewed, you will receive a response (either a confirmation or denial of eligibility) from the Oregon Office of Rural Health.

Following are the eligibility guidelines:

• You must be an EMT licensed in the State of Oregon, providing some services on a volunteer basis.
  
  
• Your EMS volunteer service must meet the following definition: A “volunteer” is a person properly trained under Oregon law who either operates an ambulance to and from the scene of an emergency or renders emergency medical treatment on a volunteer basis so long as the total reimbursement received for such volunteer services does not represent more than 25% of his or her gross annual income and does not exceed $3,000 per calendar year.
  
  
• The time you spend providing emergency medical services as a volunteer must be 20% or more of your total EMS time (paid and volunteer combined). In addition, your volunteer time must be spent with a station or agency located in a qualifying rural area, which is 25 miles from a city of 30,000 or more.

If you provided volunteer services in a rural area for only a portion of the year and then relocated, you may be eligible for a pro-rated credit.

Please check to see if the station/agency you volunteer for qualifies as rural by clicking on the checklist document to the right. You can also find a map to the right that displays the 25 mile buffers cast by populations of 30,000 or more.

To receive the credit you will need to complete an application to determine eligibility.

If your service has been determined eligible, you will be sent a renewal form automatically every December to your home address. Please inform our office if you change your home address. If you claim the credit on your tax return without submitting an application or renewal, the Oregon Department of Revenue will deny the credit.

New applicant forms and renewal forms for previously qualified EMTs can be found to the right.

For more information, contact Eric Jordan, (866) 674-4376, or by e-mail at jordane@ohsu.edu.