| Congress has passed special tax rules that apply to amounts received by the survivors of a public safety officer. For the purpose of these provisions, the definition of a public safety officer includes a law enforcement officer, fire fighter, ambulance crew member, or rescue squad member. In addition, the law applies to a chaplain killed in the line of duty while responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency as a member or employee of a fire or police department.
Under these provisions, the amount paid as a death benefit or as a survivor annuity to the officer's estate, a spouse, former spouse, or child of a public safety officer killed as the result of traumatic injuries sustained in the line of duty is excludable from the recipient's gross income if the benefit or annuity was provided under a governmental plan. These benefits are not included in either the beneficiaries' income or the decedent's gross estate.
Exceptions
The exclusion does not apply if the actions of the recipients were the cause of the death of the public safety officer. In addition, there is no exclusion from gross income under the following circumstances:
- The death was caused by the officer's intentional misconduct or by the officer's intention to cause his or her own death.
- The officer was voluntarily intoxicated at the time of death.
- The officer was performing his or her duties in a grossly negligent manner at the time of death.
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