§139C — Title 26 Internal Revenue Code | U.S. Code

Summary

If you served as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or emergency medical technician and received tax-free, service-connected disability payments, part of your retirement pension can stay tax-free too. Once you reach retirement age and the disability payments end, you can exclude from income each year an amount of your government pension or annuity up to the "annualized excludable disability amount" — the tax-free disability payments attributable to the 12 months right before you reached retirement age. If those payments covered only part of that 12-month period, the amount is annualized by multiplying it by the ratio of 365 to the number of days the payments actually covered.

Title 26, §139C

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In the case of an individual who receives qualified first responder retirement payments for any taxable year, gross income shall not include so much of such payments as do not exceed the annualized excludable disability amount with respect to such individual.

(b)For purposes of this section, the term “qualified first responder retirement payments” means, with respect to any taxable year, any pension or annuity which but for this section would be includible in gross income for such taxable year and which is received—

(1)from a plan described in clause (iii), (iv), (v), or (vi) of section 402(c)(8)(B), and

(2)in connection with such individual’s qualified first responder service.

(c)For purposes of this section—

(1)The term “annualized excludable disability amount” means, with respect to any individual, the service-connected excludable disability amounts which are properly attributable to the 12-month period immediately preceding the date on which such individual attains retirement age.

(2)The term “service-connected excludable disability amount” means periodic payments received by an individual which—

(A)are not includible in such individual’s gross income under section 104(a)(1),

(B)are received in connection with such individual’s qualified first responder service, and

(C)terminate when such individual attains retirement age.

(3)In the case of an individual who only receives service-connected excludable disability amounts properly attributable to a portion of the 12-month period described in paragraph (1), such paragraph shall be applied by multiplying such amounts by the ratio of 365 to the number of days in such period to which such amounts were properly attributable.

(d)For purposes of this section, the term “qualified first responder service” means service as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, paramedic, or emergency medical technician.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section, added Pub. L. 111–5, div. B, title III, § 3001(a)(15)(A), Feb. 17, 2009, 123 Stat. 465; amended Pub. L. 111–144, § 3(b)(5)(B), Mar. 2, 2010, 124 Stat. 44, related to COBRA premium assistance, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 115–141, div. U, title IV, § 401(d)(7)(C), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1212.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 117–328, div. T, title III, § 309(c), Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 5346, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [enacting this section] shall apply to amounts received with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.”

§139C Certain Disability-related First Responder Retirement Payments