# Tax deductions for firefighters: records for career, volunteer and retired firefighters

[Home](/) / [Tax document checklists](/checklists/tax-documents) / Firefighters

By [Arthur Teboul](/authors/arthur-teboul), Founder, DokuTrak. Published 2026-11-03, updated 2026-11-03.

> **In brief:** Tax deductions for firefighters depend on your role. Career firefighters cannot deduct gear or dues on the federal return, but can use the overtime deduction; volunteers can exclude some stipends and deduct costs given to a nonprofit fire company; retirees can exclude pension money paid for health premiums.

## The checklist: Firefighter records by role: career, volunteer and retired

**Not advice.** This page is general information, not tax, legal or HR advice. Rules change: check the cited source and ask your own professional before you rely on it. Last reviewed October 25, 2026.

Tick the groups that match your service this year. A household with a career firefighter, a volunteer and a retiree fills all three.

### Career firefighters

- [ ] Form W-2 from each department: From 2026, box 12 code TT holds qualified overtime; plus any second department or EMS job
- [ ] Payroll statement of FLSA overtime and the 7(k) work period: For 2025 returns; FLSA premium only, separate from contract overtime
- [ ] Comp time usage or payout statement: Hours taken off or cashed out in the year, with the rate used
- [ ] Form W-2c, if the code TT amount is wrong: Ask payroll before you file
- [ ] Last pay stub of the year: Overtime hours and rates, pension and deferred pay amounts
- [ ] Uniform allowance and reimbursement statements: Amounts the department paid back
- [ ] Gear, dues and certification receipts: For the state return only, where allowed
- [ ] Form 1098-T for paramedic, EMT or fire science courses: From each college

### Side business

- [ ] Form 1099-NEC from clients of the business: Training, inspections, contracting
- [ ] Business expense receipts: Kept apart from department gear

### Volunteer firefighters

- [ ] Form W-2, 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC for stipends or per-call pay: Whatever the town or district issued
- [ ] Letter from the company listing the months you served: Sets the $50 per month limit
- [ ] Property tax rebate or abatement notice for volunteers: Excluded, and it lowers the property tax deduction
- [ ] Mileage log for calls and training: Date, trip and miles
- [ ] Receipts for gear you bought for the company: Not reimbursed, not suitable for everyday wear
- [ ] Written acknowledgment from the fire company: For any single gift of $250 or more
- [ ] LOSAP statements, and Form 1099-R when benefits are paid: Length of service award program

### Retired firefighters

- [ ] Form 1099-R from the governmental pension: Box 2a does not show the premium exclusion
- [ ] Health or long-term care premium statements: Paid from the pension or by you
- [ ] Disability determination letter, if retired for a line-of-duty injury: From the plan or the board
- [ ] Last year’s return: For carryovers and last year’s withholding

Download: [PDF](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f1-tax-document-checklists/firefighters.pdf) · [Word](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f1-tax-document-checklists/firefighters.docx) · [Excel tracker](https://dokutrak.com/downloads/pseo-v2/f1-tax-document-checklists/firefighters.xlsx)

## Tax deductions for firefighters: career, volunteer or retired

The rules split three ways, so start by sorting the return. A **career firefighter** is a paid department employee who gets a Form W-2. A volunteer may get a small stipend, a property tax break or nothing at all. A retiree gets a pension on Form 1099-R. Many households mix two of these, for example a retired captain who still volunteers.

The table lists what each group can still use and the paper behind it.

| Who | What still helps | Paper behind it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Career, paid on a W-2 | Overtime deduction for 2025 through 2028 ([IRS, new deductions for workers](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-tax-deductions-for-working-americans-and-seniors)) | From 2026, Form W-2 box 12 code TT ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)) |
| Career, paid in comp time | The FLSA premium counts when the time is used or cashed out ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)) | Comp time usage or payout record |
| Career, paid on a W-2 | Turnout gear, boots, dues: not deductible federally ([26 U.S.C. 67](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/67)) | Receipts, for a state that allows them |
| Volunteer | Up to $50 per month of service excluded ([26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B)) | Stipend forms and a letter listing months served |
| Volunteer | Unpaid costs given to a nonprofit fire company ([IRS Publication 526](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526)) | Receipts, mileage log, written acknowledgment |
| Retired | Up to $3,000 of pension paid for premiums excluded ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)) | Form 1099-R and premium statements |

## Career firefighters: gear, dues and certifications

Boots, station wear, union dues and paramedic recertification used to go on Schedule A as miscellaneous itemized deductions. The code has disallowed that whole category since 2018 ([26 U.S.C. 67](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/67)). The 2025 law took away the date when it would have come back, so a 2026 return gets nothing for them either ([26 U.S.C. 67](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/67)).

That leaves three moves. Ask the department to cover the cost under its uniform allowance or reimbursement policy. Save the receipts for a state that still counts employee costs. And if you run a side business, such as a contracting or EMT training company, its costs go on Schedule C, where they remain deductible.

Courses for a paramedic license or a fire science degree can still help through the lifetime learning credit, worth up to $2,000 per return for 2025 ([IRS Publication 970](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970)). Bring Form 1098-T from the college.

Keep a running file of what the department issued and what you bought yourself. Turnout gear is usually issued, while station boots, flashlights and fitness costs are often not. If you move to a state that still allows employee costs, that file is what your new preparer will ask for first.

## Overtime on long shift schedules

A rotation of day-long shifts makes fire overtime work differently from a weekday job. Under section 7(k), a fire department can count hours over a work period of 7 to 28 days ([29 CFR 553.230](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-553/subpart-C/section-553.230)). Fire protection overtime is then required only after 212 hours in 28 days, or 106 hours in 14 days ([29 CFR 553.230](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-553/subpart-C/section-553.230)). Federal firefighters in the GS-0081 series have their own line: 106 hours in a biweekly pay period ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)).

Only the FLSA-required part counts for the deduction. When a union contract pays overtime above what the FLSA requires, only the required premium qualifies ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)). So hours paid as overtime under the contract, but below the 7(k) line, do not count ([29 CFR 553.230](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-553/subpart-C/section-553.230)). A captain or chief exempt from FLSA overtime gets no qualified overtime at all ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)).

Each return can take at most $12,500 of the premium, or $25,000 if joint, reduced when modified AGI goes over $150,000, or $300,000 for a couple ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)). Comp time follows the pay, not the shift. Hours banked under 29 USC 207(o) count in the year you take the time off or cash them out when you leave, not in the year you worked them ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)).

Check the W-2 before you file. For tax years after 2025, only the amount in box 12 with code TT can be deducted, and a wrong amount is fixed with a Form W-2c from the department ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)). Notice 2025-69 gave relief from that rule for 2025 only; for that year, keep the payroll statement of the FLSA premium and the work period used ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)).

## Volunteer firefighters: stipends, tax breaks and out-of-pocket costs

Volunteers get a federal break of their own. A **qualified payment** is a stipend or per-call payment a volunteer gets from a state or local government for that service ([26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B)). Those payments and any state or local tax cut for volunteering, such as a property tax rebate, are excluded up to $50 for each month you served ([26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B)).

Two offsets come with it. A property tax rebate you exclude lowers the property tax you can deduct ([26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B)). And volunteer costs count as a charitable gift only to the extent they are more than the excluded payments ([26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B)).

Nonprofit volunteer fire companies are qualified charities ([IRS Publication 526](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526)). If you itemize, you can deduct unpaid costs of serving them, and for 2025 driving to calls counts at 14 cents a mile if you do not track actual costs ([IRS Publication 526](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526)). A single gift of $250 or more needs a written acknowledgment from the company ([IRS Publication 526](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526)). From 2026, itemized gifts count only above 0.5% of your contribution base, which is generally your AGI ([26 U.S.C. 170](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/170)).

Some towns also fund a retirement benefit for long service. A **LOSAP** is a length of service award program, a plan that pays volunteers after years of duty. Keep its yearly statements, and expect a Form 1099-R in the year benefits start. Bring those papers even when no payout happened yet, so your preparer can track the plan over time.

## Retired firefighters: premiums paid from the pension

Firefighters are among the retired public safety officers who can exclude pension money used for health or long-term care premiums ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)). The exclusion is the smaller of the premiums or $3,000 a year ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)). It applies when you retired for disability or at normal retirement age, and the plan is a governmental plan of your former employer ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)).

The plan can pay the insurer directly or pay you to pay the premiums ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)). Either way, Box 2a of Form 1099-R does not reflect the exclusion ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)). Bring the Form 1099-R and a statement of the premiums for the year. If you retired for a line-of-duty disability, add the plan’s determination letter, since part of the pension may be treated differently.

The [Form 1099-R guide](/documents/1099-r) covers the distribution codes to check.

## Questions people ask

### Can career firefighters deduct gear or union dues?

Not on the federal return. Station boots and union dues a firefighter pays are employee costs, and the code has shut them out since 2018 with no date to bring them back ([26 U.S.C. 67](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/67)). Your state may still allow them.

### Does the overtime deduction apply to firefighter overtime?

Yes, for the FLSA-required premium only ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)). On a 28-day work period, FLSA overtime for fire protection starts after 212 hours ([29 CFR 553.230](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-553/subpart-C/section-553.230)).

### Is comp time from a fire department covered by no tax on overtime?

Only when it turns into pay. The premium on comp time counts in the tax year the department pays it, as a day off or a cash-out, not when the hours go into your bank ([IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf)).

### Are volunteer firefighter stipends taxable?

Qualified payments and state or local tax breaks for volunteer service are excluded up to $50 per month served; anything above that is taxable ([26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B)).

### Can retired firefighters exclude health insurance premiums?

Yes. A firefighter who retired for disability or at normal retirement age can exclude the smaller of the premiums or $3,000 a year paid from the governmental pension ([IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575)).

## Sources

- [26 U.S.C. 67](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/67): Miscellaneous itemized deductions are denied for tax years beginning after 2017; P.L. 119-21 removed the end date.
- [IRS, new deductions for workers](https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-tax-deductions-for-working-americans-and-seniors): The overtime deduction applies for tax years 2025 through 2028.
- [IRS FS-2026-13, overtime deduction FAQs](https://www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2026-13.pdf): Only FLSA section 7 overtime qualifies, not contract overtime or exempt employees; $12,500 ($25,000 joint), phase-out above $150,000 ($300,000 joint); 207(o) comp time counts when paid (Q18); GS-0081 firefighters 106 hours biweekly (Q29); from 2026 only W-2 box 12 code TT, corrected by W-2c; Notice 2025-69 relief for 2025.
- [26 U.S.C. 170](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/170): For tax years after 2025, itemized charitable contributions are allowed only above 0.5% of the contribution base (subsection (b)(1)(I)).
- [29 CFR 553.230](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-29/subtitle-B/chapter-V/subchapter-B/part-553/subpart-C/section-553.230): Under section 7(k), fire protection overtime on a 28-day work period is required after 212 hours.
- [26 U.S.C. 139B](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/139B): Volunteer emergency responders exclude qualified payments and state or local tax benefits up to $50 per month of service, with offsets to the property tax and charitable deductions.
- [IRS Publication 526](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p526): Nonprofit volunteer fire companies are qualified organizations; volunteer driving at 14 cents a mile; a $250 or more contribution needs a written acknowledgment.
- [IRS Publication 575](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p575): Retired public safety officers, including firefighters, exclude the smaller of $3,000 or the premiums paid from a governmental plan; Box 2a does not reflect it.
- [IRS Publication 970](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970): The lifetime learning credit is up to $2,000 per return for 2025.

## More on this topic

- [Form W-2](/documents/w-2)
- [Form 1099-R](/documents/1099-r)
- [Tax deductions for police officers](/checklists/tax-documents/police-officers)
- [Tax document checklist (all clients)](/blog/tax-document-checklist)

## About the author

Arthur Teboul (Founder, DokuTrak) is building DokuTrak after watching professionals lose hours chasing clients for documents over email. [Arthur Teboul](/authors/arthur-teboul).

How this page was made (methodology): it is built from the primary sources listed under Sources, and every rule and figure on it links to the source it comes from. Last updated October 25, 2026. Spotted an error or a rule that changed? [Contact us](/contact).

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