Press Releases
Senator Roberts: Senate Passed Tax Relief for Men and Women in Uniform
Includes Roberts Provision for Affordable Military Housing
Dec 13 2007
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) announced that late last night the Senate approved bipartisan legislation he supported to ease the tax burden on the members of the nation’s military. The Defenders of Freedom Tax Relief Act passed the Senate unanimously and included a Roberts authored provision that expands affordable housing opportunities for men and women in uniform.
“As a former Marine, I understand the sacrifices our servicemembers and their families make on behalf of our national security,” Senator Roberts said. “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 which provides $1.2 billion 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 the families of reservists killed in the line of duty to collect life insurance and other benefits provided by the civilian employer.
• 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.
• Allow the IRS to treat gifts of thanks from states to veterans - such as payments of excess state revenue - as nontaxable gifts.
• Expand affordable housing opportunities by clarifying the tax code so that members of the military will not have their basic allowance for housing count as income when applying to live in newly built affordable rental housing financed with tax credits or tax-exempt bonds. This provision was authored and included by Senator Roberts.
“Affordable rental housing often has strict limitations that determine who is a qualified tenant. The basic allowance is not true income and is not counted when servicemembers file their income taxes, so it should not be counted as income when applying for housing built with tax credits. My provision takes the basic allowance out of the formula for eligibility resulting in expanded housing opportunities.”
“As we have seen with the growth of troops at Ft. Riley, more military families have been forced to live further away from the post, some as far as Salina and Topeka in order to find decent and affordable housing. Especially in Geary County, where affordable housing is in high demand and more military families are being stationed at Ft. Riley, this provision is vital and I am pleased it was included in the final bill.”
The bill now goes to a conference committee to iron out the differences between the Senate and House passed versions of the bill.
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.
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“As a former Marine, I understand the sacrifices our servicemembers and their families make on behalf of our national security,” Senator Roberts said. “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 which provides $1.2 billion 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 the families of reservists killed in the line of duty to collect life insurance and other benefits provided by the civilian employer.
• 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.
• Allow the IRS to treat gifts of thanks from states to veterans - such as payments of excess state revenue - as nontaxable gifts.
• Expand affordable housing opportunities by clarifying the tax code so that members of the military will not have their basic allowance for housing count as income when applying to live in newly built affordable rental housing financed with tax credits or tax-exempt bonds. This provision was authored and included by Senator Roberts.
“Affordable rental housing often has strict limitations that determine who is a qualified tenant. The basic allowance is not true income and is not counted when servicemembers file their income taxes, so it should not be counted as income when applying for housing built with tax credits. My provision takes the basic allowance out of the formula for eligibility resulting in expanded housing opportunities.”
“As we have seen with the growth of troops at Ft. Riley, more military families have been forced to live further away from the post, some as far as Salina and Topeka in order to find decent and affordable housing. Especially in Geary County, where affordable housing is in high demand and more military families are being stationed at Ft. Riley, this provision is vital and I am pleased it was included in the final bill.”
The bill now goes to a conference committee to iron out the differences between the Senate and House passed versions of the bill.
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.
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