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January 24, 2005
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Imminent Danger Pay:
A member of a uniformed service may be paid special pay at the rate
of $225 for any month in which he was entitled to basic pay and
in which he:
* Was subject to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines;
* Was on duty in an area in which he was in imminent danger of being
exposed to hostile fire or explosion of hostile mines and in which,
during the period he was on duty in that area, other members of
the uniformed services were subject to hostile fire or explosion
of hostile mines;
* Was killed, injured, or wounded by hostile fire, explosion of
a hostile mine, or any other hostile action; or
* Was on duty in a foreign area in which he was subject to the threat
of physical harm or imminent danger on the basis of civil insurrection,
civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions.
* Reserve members are also eligible for Hostile Fire and Imminent
Danger Pay.
Combat Zone Tax Relief:
Updated May 15, 2003
[Update: An April 11 DoD memo certifies that Iraqi
Freedom personnel stationed in Turkey and Israel and deployed
to Mediterranean waters east of 30 degrees east longitude are now
eligible for combat zone tax relief. Also, service members deployed
in the same Mediterranean water area now qualify for imminent danger
pay. Effective date for the added combat zone tax relief in Turkey
and Israel is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2003. Water-deployed eastern
Mediterranean personnel started their tax relief status on April
11, the same date they became eligible for imminent danger pay.
A previous executive order has covered combat zone designations
for countries such as Iraq,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.]
If you are a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who serves in a combat
zone (defined below), you can exclude certain pay from your income.
Enlisted personnel, warrant officers, and commissioned warrant officers
can exclude the following amounts from their income:
* Active duty pay earned in any month you served in a combat
zone;
Imminent danger/hostile fire pay;
* A reenlistment bonus if the voluntary extension or reenlistment
occurs in a month you served in a combat zone;
* Pay for accrued leave earned in any month you served in a combat
zone. The DoD must determine that the unused leave was earned
during that period;
* Pay received for duties as a member of the Armed Forces in clubs,
messes, post and station theaters, and other nonappropriated fund
activities. The pay must be earned in a month you served in a
combat zone;
* Awards for suggestions, inventions, or scientific achievements
you are entitled to because of a submission you made in a month
you served in a combat zone;
* Student loan repayments that are attributable to your period
of service in a combat zone (provided a full year's service is
performed to earn the repayment);
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You do not have to receive the pay while you are in a combat zone,
are hospitalized, or in the same year you served in a combat zone.
However, your entitlement to the pay must have fully accrued in
a month during which you served in the combat zone or were hospitalized
as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving
in the combat zone.
Partial (month) service. If you serve in a combat zone for one or
more days during a particular month, you are entitled to an exclusion
for that entire month.
Definition of Combat Zone
A combat zone is any area the President of the United States designates
by Executive Order as an area in which the U.S. Armed Forces are
engaging or have engaged in combat. An area usually becomes a combat
zone and ceases to be a combat zone on the dates the President designates
by Executive Order.
Afghanistan. By Executive Order No. 13239, Afghanistan
(and airspace above) is designated a combat zone beginning September
19, 2001.
The Kosovo area. By Executive Order No. 13119 and Public
Law 106-21, the following locations (including air space) were designated
as a combat zone and a qualified hazardous duty area beginning March
24, 1999.
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro)
Albania
The Adriatic Sea
The Ionian Sea - north of the 39th parallel (including all of
the airspace in connection with the Kosovo operation.)
Persian Gulf area. By Executive Order No. 12744, the following
locations (and airspace) were designated as a combat zone beginning
January 17, 1991.
The Persian Gulf
The Red Sea
The Gulf of Oman
The part of the Arabian Sea that is north of 10 degrees north
latitude and west of 68 degrees east longitude
The Gulf of Aden The total land areas of Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates
Serving in a Combat Zone
Service in a combat zone includes any periods you are absent from
duty because of sickness, wounds, or leave.
If, as a result of serving in a combat zone, a person becomes a
prisoner of war or is missing in action, that person is considered
to be serving in the combat zone so long as he or she keeps that
status for military pay purposes.
You are considered to be serving in a combat zone if you are either
assigned on official temporary duty to a combat zone or you qualify
for hostile fire/imminent danger pay while in a combat zone.
Nonqualifying presence in combat zone. The following military
service does not qualify as service in a combat zone:
Presence in a combat zone while on leave from a duty station
located outside the combat zone,
Passage over or through a combat zone during a trip between 2
points that are outside a combat zone, and
Presence in a combat zone solely for your personal convenience.
Qualified hazardous duty area. Beginning November 21, 1995,
a "qualified hazardous duty area" in the former Yugoslavia is treated
as if it were a combat zone. The qualified hazardous duty area includes:
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Macedonia
Members of the Armed Forces deployed overseas away from their permanent
duty station in support of operations in a qualified hazardous duty
area, or performing qualifying service outside the qualified hazardous
duty area, are treated as if they are in a combat zone solely for
the purposes of the extension of deadlines. These personnel are
not entitled to other combat zone tax benefits. However, if you
satisfy additional requirements, you may be entitled to full combat
zone tax benefits:
Qualifying service outside combat zone. Military service outside
a combat zone is considered to be performed in a combat zone if:
The service is in direct support of military operations in the
combat zone, and
The service qualifies you for special military pay for duty subject
to hostile fire or imminent danger.
Military pay received for this service will qualify for the combat
zone exclusion if the other requirements are met.
Amount of Exclusion
If you are an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned
warrant officer and you serve in a combat zone during any part of
a month, all of your military pay for that month is excluded from
your income. You can also exclude military pay earned while you
are hospitalized as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred
in the combat zone. The exclusion of your military pay while you
are hospitalized does not apply to any month that begins more than
2 years after the end of combat activities in that combat zone.
Your hospitalization does not have to be in the combat zone.
If you are a commissioned officer (other than a commissioned warrant
officer), you may exclude your pay according to the rules just discussed.
However, the amount of your exclusion is limited to the highest
rate of enlisted pay (plus imminent danger/hostile fire pay you
received) for each month during any part of which you served in
a combat zone or were hospitalized as a result of your service there.
Hospitalized while serving in the combat zone. If you are hospitalized
while serving in the combat zone, the wound, disease, or injury
causing the hospitalization will be presumed to have been incurred
while serving in the combat zone unless there is clear evidence
to the contrary.
Hospitalized after leaving the combat zone. In some cases the wound,
disease, or injury may have been incurred while you were serving
in the combat zone, even though you were not hospitalized until
after you left.
Form W-2. The wages shown in box 1 of your 2002 Form W-2 should
not include military pay excluded from your income under the combat
zone exclusion provisions. If it does, you will need to get a corrected
Form W-2 from your finance office. You cannot exclude as combat
pay any wages shown in box 1 of Form W-2.
--Sources: Military.com, Defense
Department
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©2005 DefenseWatch. All opinions expressed in this article are the
author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
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