Who qualified for the historical $5-per-work-day firefighter and EMS subsistence deduction under RR 96-5, and which days counted?

Plain-English summary

South Carolina Revenue Ruling 96-5 explained a historical income-tax deduction of $5 for each regular work day of qualifying full-time firefighters and emergency medical service personnel.

A regular work day meant a shift longer than six hours. An 8-hour, 12-hour, or 24-hour shift counted as one day, not multiple days. A firefighter or EMS worker qualified for an on-duty shift even if no fire or medical emergency occurred and other assigned duties were performed. Time merely spent on call, with no duty requirement, did not count.

The ruling limited the deduction to paid, certified personnel working full-time. It defined full-time as a job requiring at least 35 hours per week and did not combine two half-time positions. Firefighters had to work as firefighters, not as dispatchers or office staff. EMS claimants had to be certified EMTs, EMT-intermediates, or paramedics working for an agency or private company providing ambulance-type emergency service.

Doctors, nurses, and other hospital emergency-room personnel did not qualify under the ruling because it read the Emergency Medical Services Act as limited to ambulance services.

Common questions

Q: Did a firefighter have to fight a fire that day? No. Every qualifying regular on-duty work shift counted, including days spent on other assigned duties.

Q: Did a 24-hour shift produce three $5 deductions? No. One shift was one regular work day, so the example allowed one $5 deduction.

Q: Did on-call time count? Not when the employee was merely on call and not required to perform other duties.

Q: What records supported the deduction? The taxpayer bore the burden of proving eligibility and the number of regular work days. The ruling said certification copies and an employer statement should be sufficient if questioned, though nothing had to be attached to the filed return.

Q: Is the $5 rule current? This page reports only the historical rule in RR 96-5. Current law must be verified.

Citations and references

• Former S.C. Code Ann. § 12-7-435(j) (historical firefighter and EMS subsistence deduction)
• Former S.C. Code Ann. § 12-7-1220(H)(2) (historical full-time definition used by the ruling)
• S.C. Code Title 44, Chapter 61 (Emergency Medical Services Act scope)
• Act 145 of 1995, Section 57 (legislation identified in the ruling)

Subject

Subsistence Allowance for Firefighters and EMS Personnel

Source

• Landing page: https://dor.sc.gov/advisory-opinion-search
• Original PDF: https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/policies/RR96-5.pdf

Original ruling text

State of South Carolina

Department of Revenue
301 Gervais Street, P. O. Box 125, Columbia, South Carolina 29214

SC REVENUE RULING #96-5 (TAX)

SUBJECT:

Subsistence Allowance for Firefighters and EMS Personnel
(Income Tax)

EFFECTIVE DATE:

For tax years beginning after December 31, 1994.

SUPERSEDES:

All previous documents and any oral directives in conflict herewith.

REFERENCES:

S. C. Code Ann. Section 12-7-435 (Enacted 1995 - Act No. 145,
Section 57)

AUTHORITY:

S. C. Code Ann. Section 12-4-320 (Supp. 1995)
SC Revenue Procedure #94-1

SCOPE:

A Revenue Ruling is the Department of Revenue's official advisory
opinion of how laws administered by the Department are to be applied
to a specific issue or a specific set of facts, and is provided as guidance
for all persons or a particular group. It is valid and remains in effect
until superseded or modified by a change in the statute or regulations
or a subsequent court decision, Revenue Ruling or Revenue Procedure.

INTRODUCTION:
Recently, the General Assembly amended Code Section 12-7-435(j) to extend the $5.00 a day
subsistence allowance deduction to full-time firefighters and full-time emergency medical
service personnel. This deduction had previously been available only to federal and state law
enforcement officers. This revenue ruling will address various questions that have arisen
concerning this legislation.
LAW:
Code Section 12-7-435(j) allows as a deduction from South Carolina taxable income of an
individual:
(j) ... Full-time firefighters and emergency medical service personnel may deduct as a
subsistence allowance five dollars a day for each regular work day in a taxable year.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:
1Q.

Will the firefighter or EMS worker qualify for this allowance only on days when the
employee is actually putting out fires or performing emergency medical services, or does

1

the deduction extend to days the employee is "on duty" but is performing other duties
because there are no fires to fight or emergency medical situations?
A.

The statute allows the deduction for "each regular work day in a taxable year." It does
not limit the deduction to days when the employee is actually putting out fires or
performing emergency medical services. As such, the firefighter or EMS worker will
qualify for the allowance for all regular work days, including "on duty" days when the
employee is performing other duties because there are no fires to fight or emergency
medical situations. Periods of time when a firefighter or EMS worker is "on call" but is
not required to perform other duties do not constitute part of a regular work day.

2Q.

Is the deduction limited to "ambulance type" emergency situations or would doctors,
nurses, and other certified personnel working in a hospital emergency room also qualify
for the deduction?

A.

"The Emergency Medical Services Act of South Carolina" (Title 44, Chapter 61 of the
1976 Code of Laws) is limited to persons providing ambulance services. Therefore, the
deduction for "emergency medical service personnel" is limited to "ambulance type"
emergency situations and would not apply to doctors, nurses, and other certified
personnel working in a hospital emergency room.

3Q.

What constitutes a regular work day? Is a shift a regular work day or does 8 hours
constitute a regular work day?

A.

A shift constitutes a regular work day, provided that shift exceeds six hours. For
example 1 :
(i) If a firefighter works an 8 hour shift 5 times during a particular week, the
firefighter will be entitled to 5 subsistence allowances for that week for a total of
$25 ($5 subsistence allowance x 5 regular work days).
(ii) If a firefighter works a 12 hour shift 3 times during a particular week, the
firefighter will be entitled to 3 subsistence allowances for that week for a total of
$15 ($5 subsistence allowance x 3 regular work days).
(iii) If a firefighter works a 24 hour shift 2 times during a particular week, the
firefighter will be entitled to 2 subsistence allowances for that week for a total of
$10 ($5 subsistence allowance x 2 regular work days) 2 .

1

The deduction is calculated on the number of regular work days worked during the tax year; however, the
examples use the number of regular work days worked during a week in order to simplify the explanation of
what constitutes a "regular work day".
2

Firefighters working a 24 hour shift usually work 8 hours during the shift but must be at the station during
the other 16 hours of the shift. After completing this 24 hour shift, these firefighters are usually off duty for
the next 48 hours before they return for another 24 hour shift. As such, these firefighters will have either 2 or
3 shifts at the station during a calendar week.

2

4Q. What constitutes full-time employment?
A.

"Full-time" for purposes of the subsistence allowance will be the same as full-time for
purposes of the job tax credit as defined in Code Section 12-7-1220(H)(2). Therefore,
the job as firefighter or emergency medical service personnel must require a minimum of
thirty-five hours of a firefighter's or EMS person's time a week. However, the provision
of Code Section 12-7-1220(H)(2) that allows two "half-time jobs to equal one "full-time"
job is not applicable in determining who is eligible for the subsistence allowance.

5Q.

What criteria will govern whether or not a taxpayer is entitled to the deduction?

A. For firefighters, each of the following criteria must be met:
They must be paid employees working as firefighters. Persons, other than
certified firefighters, working for the firefighting department or agency
performing other duties, such as dispatchers and office personnel, do not qualify
for the allowance.
They must work full-time as defined above with a firefighting department, agency
or a private company.
They must be certified as firefighters.
For EMS personnel, each of the following criteria must be met:
They must be paid employees working as EMT's, EMTI's, or paramedics.
Persons, other than certified EMT's, EMTI's, or paramedics, working for the EMS
department or agency or private EMS company performing other duties, such as
dispatchers and office personnel, do not qualify for the allowance.
They must work full-time as defined above with an EMS department or agency or
a private EMS company providing ambulance-type emergency services. See
Question #2.
They must be certified as EMT's, EMTI's, or paramedics.
6Q.

What verification/documentation is required to substantiate the subsistence allowance
deduction?

A.

The burden of proof will rest with the taxpayer claiming the deduction to show (1) that he
or she is entitled to this deduction, and (2) to prove the total regular work days worked
during the year.

Please note that these firefighters meet the requirement of full-time employment as discussed in Question #4
since both a 2 shift and a 3 shift week requires more that 35 hours of the firefighter's time during the week.

3

No verification needs to be attached to the South Carolina tax return when filed.
However, if the deduction is questioned, the taxpayer will need to verify that he or she
meets the criteria set forth in this document. Copies of certification as a firefighter,
EMT, EMTI or a paramedic and a statement from the person's employer should be
sufficient verification as to the criteria set forth in this document.

SC DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE

s/Burnet R. Maybank III
Burnet R. Maybank, III, Director

, 1996
March 21
Columbia, South Carolina

4