Volunteer firefighters are not paid a salary or hourly wage, but most receive some form of financial support: small per-call or per-shift stipends, mileage and gear reimbursements, federal and state tax breaks, and long-term retirement-style awards for years of service. Federal law keeps these payments modest on purpose. Once the money starts looking like a wage, the volunteer legally becomes an employee, so departments deliberately keep stipends nominal and route larger benefits through tax credits and deferred awards instead.
Per-Call and Shift Stipends
The most common cash payment is a small stipend each time a volunteer responds to a call or completes a duty shift. Amounts typically run from about $10 to $30 per call, though they vary by department and region. Some departments pay a flat monthly or annual stipend to volunteers who commit to year-round availability instead of, or on top of, per-call amounts.
These fees are flat. A volunteer who responds to a working structure fire and one who responds to a false alarm receive the same payment, because the fee is not tied to productivity. That structure is what keeps the payment inside the “nominal fee” framework federal regulations allow for volunteers.1eCFR. 29 CFR 553.106 – Payment of Expenses, Benefits, or Fees
Stipends Are Taxable
A common misconception is that stipends are tax-free. The IRS treats per-call payments to firefighters as wages subject to federal income tax withholding, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax. Any fixed cash amount that does not require documentation of actual expenses is treated as ordinary wages, regardless of what the department calls it.2Internal Revenue Service. Issues for Firefighters Departments paying stipends should report them on a W-2, and volunteers should expect withholding on each check.
Why the Stipends Stay Small
The Fair Labor Standards Act says a person volunteering for a state or local agency is not an employee as long as they receive no compensation beyond expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 203 – Definitions Federal regulations spell out that a nominal per-call payment to volunteer firefighters is allowed, provided it is not tied to productivity and is not a substitute for a wage.1eCFR. 29 CFR 553.106 – Payment of Expenses, Benefits, or Fees
The Department of Labor uses a practical benchmark to test whether a fee is truly nominal. In a 2006 opinion letter, the agency said a payment generally stays nominal if it does not exceed 20% of what a full-time firefighter in the same jurisdiction would earn for the same work.4U.S. Department of Labor. Opinion Letter FLSA2006-28 If a career firefighter in the area earns $50,000 a year, a volunteer’s total fees should stay under roughly $10,000 to be safely on the volunteer side of the line.
Crossing the 20% figure does not automatically flip a volunteer into employee status, but it puts the burden on the department to justify the payment. If the Department of Labor decides a fee looks like a wage, the volunteer becomes an employee, and the department owes minimum wage and overtime for every hour worked, potentially with back pay.
Federal Tax Exclusion for Volunteer Payments
Section 139B of the Internal Revenue Code lets volunteer firefighters exclude two things from their gross income: qualified state and local tax benefits tied to their service, and qualified payments from a state or local government for performing emergency response duties.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 139B – Benefits Provided to Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Responders A 2020 amendment removed the sunset date, making the exclusion permanent for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020.
The exclusion for qualified payments is capped at $50 per month of active service, or $600 per year for a full year of service. That cap is a fixed statutory number and is not adjusted for inflation. Stipends above $600 in a year are taxable, though the first $600 stays excluded.
State and Local Tax Breaks
Many state and local governments run their own tax incentives to keep volunteers on the roster. They generally fall into two categories:
- Property tax credits applied against the volunteer’s local property tax bill, commonly running from a few hundred dollars to over $1,000 depending on the jurisdiction.
- State income tax deductions or credits, typically between $500 and $1,500 per year of qualifying service.
Eligibility rules vary. Most programs require active status through a minimum number of calls, training hours, or service points each year. When these are qualified state and local tax benefits under IRC 139B, they are excluded from federal gross income, so a volunteer receiving a property tax credit for fire service does not have to report the credit as federal income.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 139B – Benefits Provided to Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Medical Responders
Length of Service Award Programs
A Length of Service Award Program, or LOSAP, functions like a pension for long-serving volunteers. Federal tax law treats these plans as not providing deferred compensation, so contributions do not count as current taxable income and do not turn the volunteer into an employee.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 457 – Deferred Compensation Plans of State and Local Governments and Tax-Exempt Organizations The awards must be paid solely based on length of service in qualified emergency work: fire suppression, emergency medical response, or ambulance duty.
The annual accrual limit for LOSAP contributions is adjusted each year for inflation. For 2026, the maximum that can accrue for any single year of service is $8,000, up from $7,500 in 2025.7Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Amounts Relating to Retirement Plans and IRAs, as Adjusted for Changes in Cost-of-Living (Notice 2025-67) Actual local contributions are usually well below that ceiling. Qualifying for the annual accrual generally requires meeting activity thresholds set by the local program, such as a certain number of responses, training hours, or meetings.
The money sits in the plan until the volunteer reaches the program’s entitlement age, commonly 60 or 65. At that point it can be paid as a lump sum or in periodic payments, depending on the plan. Because the balance is inaccessible until then, it does not count as current wages and does not disturb the volunteer’s non-employee status.
Expense Reimbursement
Departments routinely reimburse volunteers for out-of-pocket costs. Common items include mileage for driving a personal vehicle to calls or training, purchase and upkeep of required gear, and fees for certifications or continuing education. Federal regulations confirm that reimbursement for incidental expenses, including meals, transportation, and uniform costs, does not make someone an employee.1eCFR. 29 CFR 553.106 – Payment of Expenses, Benefits, or Fees The same rule treats training-related tuition, transportation, and meal costs as non-compensatory. Receipts, mileage logs, and itemized reports matter here, both for department audits and to keep the payments from being reclassified as taxable income.
Line-of-Duty Death and Injury Benefits
Volunteer firefighters are covered by the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program. The statute’s definition of “firefighter” includes officially recognized members of legally organized volunteer fire departments, and “public safety officer” covers anyone serving a public agency in an official capacity with or without compensation. If a volunteer dies or suffers total and permanent disability as a direct result of a line-of-duty injury, their family or the officer is eligible for a one-time federal benefit. For fiscal year 2026, that benefit is $461,656.8Bureau of Justice Assistance. Benefits by Year – PSOB
The program does not cover deaths or disabilities caused by stress, occupational illness, or chronic disease unless a traumatic injury was a substantial contributing factor. To file a disability claim, the officer must have separated from the department for medical reasons and must be receiving the maximum disability compensation available from the local jurisdiction.9GovInfo. Public Safety Officers Benefits Program Fact Sheet
Most states also extend workers’ compensation coverage to volunteers injured in the line of duty. The mechanism differs by state: some require the fire company itself to carry the policy, others fund coverage through the municipality or fire district. Confirm with the department what coverage is in place before assuming it exists.
A Note for Career Firefighters
A professional firefighter who wants to also volunteer runs into one federal restriction. Under the FLSA, a person cannot volunteer for the same public agency that employs them to perform the same type of work.10eCFR. 29 CFR 553.102 – Employment by the Same Public Agency A career firefighter employed by one city cannot volunteer as a firefighter for that same city’s department, but can volunteer for a different municipality’s or fire district’s department, because those are separate public agencies.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 203 – Definitions Whether two agencies at the same level of government count as the “same public agency” is decided case by case, so confirm the volunteer department is legally distinct from your employer before signing up.