Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB1324

LRB104 03240 HLH 13262 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB1324

Introduced 1/28/2025, by Rep. Dan Ugaste and Tony M. McCombie

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

35 ILCS 5/246 new

Amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. Creates an income tax credit in the amount of $500 for a taxpayer who serves as a full-time police officer, firefighter, or rescue worker during the taxable year. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning revenue.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Income Tax Act is amended by adding Section 246 as follows:

(35 ILCS 5/246 new)

Sec. 246. First responder tax credit.

(a) For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 and beginning prior to January 1, 2030, each individual who serves as a full-time police officer, firefighter, or rescue worker during the taxable year is entitled to a credit against the taxes imposed by subsections (a) and (b) of Section 201 in the amount of $500.

(b) A credit under this Section may not reduce a taxpayer's liability to less than zero. If the amount of the credit exceeds the tax liability for the year, the excess may be carried forward and applied to the tax liability of the 5 taxable years following the excess credit year. The tax credit shall be applied to the earliest year for which there is a tax liability. If there are credits for more than one year that are available to offset the liability, the earlier credit shall be applied first.

(c) The Department may adopt rules for the implementation of the credit under this Section.

(d) As used in this Section:

"Firefighter" has the same meaning as "fireman" in subsection (b) of Section 2 of the Line of Duty Compensation Act.

"Police officer" has the same meaning as "law enforcement officer" in subsection (a) of Section 2 of the Line of Duty Compensation Act.

"Rescue worker" means a person who is licensed under the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act as an Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) (First Responder), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate (EMT-I), Advanced Emergency Medical Responder (A-EMT), or Paramedic (EMT-P).

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.