WASHINGTON, DC – Building on previous efforts to provide tax relief to the nation’s men and women in uniform, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts signed onto sweeping bipartisan legislation to ease the tax burden on the members of the nation’s military.

"As a former Marine, I understand the sacrifices our servicemembers and their families make on behalf of our national security. At a time when many are serving abroad, it is critical we do what we can to allow them to focus on their mission without worrying about their families at home or their financial well being."

Senator Roberts is an original co-sponsor of the bill, called The Defenders of Freedom Tax Relief Act, which was introduced by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) the Finance Committee’s Ranking Member. 

The bill provides more than $550 million in tax relief for veterans, servicemembers, and their employers. Provisions in the legislation will:

• Make permanent a provision that allows servicemembers to count their non-taxable combat pay when determining their eligibility for the earned income tax credit.
• Provide tax relief for small businesses when they continue paying some salary to members of the National Guard and Reserve who are called to duty. Senator Roberts co-sponsored similar legislation in 2005.
• Allow all veterans to use qualified mortgage bonds to purchase their homes.
• Eliminates burdensome IRS rules for reporting of differential pay. This makes it easier for members of the National Guard and Reserve who are called to active duty to file their taxes and simpler for employers to keep contributing to those employees’ retirement plans.
• Allow the families of soldiers killed in the line of duty to contribute up to 100 percent of survivor benefits to a retirement savings account.
• Allow active duty servicemembers to withdraw money from retirement plans and allows them two years to replace the funds without tax penalty.
• Extend a provision that gives retired veterans more time to claim a tax refund on some types of disability benefit payments.
• Make permanent a provision that gives employees in the intelligence service a longer period of time to meet residency requirements in order to exclude profits from the sale of their home from capital gains tax, which is often necessary due to frequent deployment. As the former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Roberts pushed for similar legislation last year.

Senator Roberts is a member of the Senate Committee on Finance and is an outspoken advocate for men and women in uniform and their families.