Military Tax Benefit: The Military Spouse Relief Act Thumbnail

January 11, 2021

Military Tax Benefit: The Military Spouse Relief Act

Welcome to Curt's Chalk Talk. I'm Curt Sheldon with C.L. Sheldon and Company, and today I want to talk to you about one of your military tax benefits.

Now, as you're probably well aware, you're not required to change your residency, each time you moved due to a PCS. And that's due to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Now, when I came on active duty and later got married, my wife had to change her residency each and every time we moved, because there was no relief for spouses.

Later on in my career, the law was changed and the Military Spouse Relief Act was added, and that allowed spouses to establish residency the same as the military member, if they resided in that state, after the law passed. Well, for my wife, that didn't work because we never moved back to Texas, and so she needed to continue changing her state of residence up until the time I retired.

In 2018, Congress changed the Military Spouse Relief Act to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and now a spouse of a military member, can maintain the same residency as the military member. Now, there's a couple of things you need to do. You actually need to live in the same house, and you need to be living in that house because of military orders, and it'd be a good idea to get a driver's license and registered to vote in the state that you, your new state of residency. Because if it is ever challenged, then you can show that state that no, you really intend to be a resident of the state you are claiming.

Now, if you're getting ready to transition from the military, whether that be through retirement or just separating, we've got a checklist that might be able to help you out. And you can get it for free. Just go to www.clsheldon.com/tax. That's www.clsheldon.com/tax.

Disclaimer
Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC ), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this blog will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions. C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC website or incorporated herein, and C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided solely for convenience, educational, and informational purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this blog serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC . To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the blog content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of the C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC ’s current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available for review upon request. DISCLAIMER OF TAX ADVICE: Any discussion contained herein cannot be considered to be tax advice. Actual tax advice would require a detailed and careful analysis of the facts and applicable law, which we expect would be time consuming and costly. We have not made and have not been asked to make that type of analysis in connection with any advice given in this blog post. As a result, we are required to advise you that any Federal tax advice rendered in this blog is not intended or written to be used and cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by the IRS. In the event you would like us to perform the type of analysis that is necessary for us to provide an opinion, that does not require the above disclaimer, as always, please feel free to contact us.