Air Force the Official Service Journal - Air Force Historical Studies ...

TIIC{"II""IIIi; ;lItidc j, till'
I/J!l'! "f;j 'eric' IIrillCIJ f"r\!I(
"')1" I III C;CJIcJ;f/ IlcdJlck
The hard facts about INCOME TAX
M,I",)" ,nllCl'llll'n r,.'tlllllinc;,
f ron: ()\IT'l';I, h.iv« lxcn
;I,tonl,lin] hI filid t luiu
'lilc' III debt to thc ~()\nll'
uuu t for illconlc t"Xl", SOllll"
hod\ Ii", told t lum , u u r-.! of
thCI;1 c.iut ITIIICl11her [u-t \1110
it l\aS, t liat ;1\ lon~ ;1' " IILln
I' on d u tv outvidc the l'nited
S LI tes h~ IS CXCl1lpt trmu
t:I X" tio n ,
Thi, i, tvpic.rl of tlic mi,.
iuformu t ion that i, ~oin~
;\I'(1I111d concerlllllg u.. ;Ip'
pi iC;1tion of thc t.rx la\l" to
m ilit.uv pcrxonucl. Tlicr« i,
in ore confusion about t.ix.rt
rou than about ;1111' other
ph.i-«: of the civil aff"ir, of
service 11Icn .md \\,OI11CII,
One rumor has it that
cvcrv ,ole!Jer bclovv the rank
of licutcuant colonel is excused from incon rc tuxes. Auot licr
is that when ;1 man cutcr , the service. am' taxes hc O\lTS on
previous income arc wiped out. And so un and Oil,
It is time to do SOll1Cdchunking, 'lh is article \I ill undert:Jkc
to cxpl.uu. bricflv .md ximplv. how the tax la\l'S nffcct
vou as a serviceman. It won't iu.rkc you an cxpert, but it
will offcr some gnie];mcc, and it might serve to keep you out
of trouble wi th vour Collcctor of l n tcr n.il Revenue.
It is quite true tlut \'OU, as a soldier. arc entitled to special
cousidcrat ion as far ;IS vour income tux is concerned. To
bcgin with, consider th~ spccial pr ovixioux for scrvic« personnel
which arc currcntlv applicable. It will be dcxir.iblc
later on in this article to point out thc respects in whicl:
current provisions diffcr from those of previous vc.ir-; ,iIlCC
xou ic men and wcnucn noll' O\TrSCaS m.iv h.ivc to file two or
three vcarx' tax returns at once wlu-u th'c\' rctur n.
Perhaps thc most important current provision is thc onc
which exempts the first S I, :;00 of Armv pa\' from incomc
taxation. \Vhat that means is that a major, for example. with
;1 base pal' of S 3.000 and no other income, rcports only
S L :;00 of gross income on his tax return,
Thc S I, :;00 cxcm ption is good onlv for ArJlI\' income. ;\
private, for cx.unplc. who has onlv S(iOO of Armv P;1\' gets
an cxcmpt iou of SGOO. If, from outside sourccc, he has
other income, hc gcts no deduction from that mcrclv hecause
he is in the service.
AnI' scrviccu r.m who, ha\'ing applied his milit.irv cxcmption,
finds that his rcmaining gross income, Armv 1);1\' or
otherwise, amounts to S:;OO or morc must filc a return. even
though on the basis of that rcturn hc owes no tax, This rule
applies rcgardlcss of the taxpnvcrs marital st;ltUS or the
OCTOBER,1944
By Brig. Gen. l. H. Hedrick
As a soldier you have certain privileges, but that doesn't
necessarily mean you're exempt
n uml xr of his dependents.
It