On September 10, 2024, Ohio Congressman Warren Davison introduced H.R. 9518, the Burden Relief for Active-duty Vital Exemptions Act of 2024, (or the BRAVE Act of 2024.) This proposed legislation would eliminate taxes for all service members deployed overseas.

Representative Davidson, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, indicated that his proposed bill would amend the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code of 1986 “to exclude compensation by deployed members of the Armed Forces from gross income for purposes of the income tax.”

In effect, it would expand the IRS’ 1986 exemption to include all the overseas deployed personnel, not just those serving in a designated combat zone.

Those military members deployed to overseas combat zones do not pay taxes on their salary. Davidson’s proposed legislation would apply to all non-permanently deployed service members operating overseas.

Combat zones, where service members’ pay is tax-exempt, are decided on an ad hoc basis by an issued ad hoc executive order. Approximately twenty (20) countries and regions qualify as combat zones by the executive order, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Somali and the Sinai.

Often countries that the U.S. bases combat support to another theater out of, such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan, receive the combat zone designation as well.

This ad hoc executive order approach is both arbitrary and unpredictable, according to the Congressman, as service members are “risking their lives and shouldering serious personal costs despite the lack of an official combat zone designation.”

However, the BRAVE Act of 2024 proposed bill would be applicable for our military members deployed in approximately 175 countries. Our service members are deployed to overseas locations, such as Chad, Egypt, Peru, South Korea, Japan, Germany and Italy, on both training missions and joint military exercises.

“When our soldiers deploy for combat, they don’t pay taxes. When they deploy around the world to promote peace and deter war, they pay taxes. The Brave Act makes it clear: Reward both of these military deployments—Respect our warriors,” Congressman Davidson stated.

Our Armed Forces have struggled to obtain strength and recruitment numbers for several decades. This has been caused by concerns that service members have that their pay does not keep pace with inflation or with the private sector.

The recently House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included a 4.5% increase for all service members and a 15% boost for junior enlisted troops. This bill must now be negotiated with the Senate before final passage.

“The ‘BRAVE Act’ ensures that those serving in foreign deployments receive the full tax relief they deserve, maintaining fairness for all service members,” Representative Davidson concluded.

My Opinion: This Act should have been passed long ago. However, there are several aspects that must be clarified that were not included in the original bill submitted by Congressman Davidson. Hopefully, all these aspects will be addressed in subsequent House Committee Hearings.

BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a retired 32-year Army veteran who served from 1967 to 1999. He has participated on numerous deployments overseas. He is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio’s Hospital Chairman and Adjutant of Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at: plahovinsak@msn.com.