Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick on Thursday continued to push the hand of the IRS by once again asking for clarification of a part of the Affordable Care Act and its effect on volunteer organizations such as volunteer first responder entities.
Fitzpatrick, in two letters dated January 2, to newly confirmed IRS Commissioner Koskinen and acting boss Daniel Werfel, once again asked for a clarification of volunteer firefighters and non-profit volunteer first responder organizations pertaining to the health care law that took full effect on January 1.
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Fitzpatrick’s mission is to clear up an element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that allows the taxing agency to consider volunteers as employees for tax purposes and therefore first responder nonprofits with more than 50 “employees” will have to offer health insurance which could cripple those volunteer based organizations financially.
“Currently, volunteers are designated as employees for IRS tax purposes. Under this designation, many volunteer-driven non-profits could be considered ‘large employers’ by the PPACA,” the Congressman said in a release on Thursday. Adding,“this misguided classification has the potential to significantly harm volunteer emergency services across the country by requiring them to meet the law’s employer mandates.”
Fitzpatrick, who is a cosponsor of the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act, which is supported by the National Volunteer Council and the International Association of Fire Chiefs and introduced in the House on December 11, says the organizations need to know where they stand.
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Fitzpatrick in response to a question from this reporter about the next steps for the bill said, “unfortunately, when it comes to waiting for a response from a massive bureaucracy like the IRS the next step is often waiting. However, I’ve found out that waiting isn’t good enough for the fire departments who need to know these answers – that’s why you’re seeing action in the form of legislation like the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act [H.R. 3685]. My hope is that Commissioner Koskinen simply follows his promise and addresses this concern promptly; in the meantime I will continue to push for a legislative resolution to this issue as soon as the House comes back in session.”
With the measure having support from both sides of the aisle Fitzpatrick explained getting HR 3685 to the floor “is a must if the IRS is going to continue and ignore the concerns of local emergency responders and local municipalities.”
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Frustrated by a lack of response to letters he wrote late last year, Fitzpatrick said that first responder organizations don’t care where the answer comes “they just need answers,” he said.
Philly.com reported Friday that a request for comment from the IRS was forwarded to the US Treasury which said “pending issuance of the final regulations, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on their likely content.”
So first responder organizations, and the Congressman continue to wait…
