I was watching TV tonight and an ad appeared for one of the tax preparation companies. Within the ad was a mention that our service men and women get to prepare their taxes for free. This , of course, started my mind spinning. I began wondering why it is that we make our military personnel pay income and other taxes? After all, do they not already give their country the ultimate payment?
There are benefits to serving our country such as medical, dental, education and other benefits provided by the G.I bill. There are also tax breaks and exemptions for service that vary upon state residing in. I applaud our government for coming this far in recognition of their sacrifice. The pay that our service people receive is insufficient to raise a family and many servicemen and women work second jobs when not deployed to help support their families. This results in even more time spent away from the home and the family. When they are deployed that extra income is no longer there and the family suffers.
What should a grateful nation do for these volunteers? Should we have to establish charities to help them make ends meet? Should we say" well they knew what they were getting when they signed up"? Should we say that "only those who support our troops should donate money and time to help them"? Of course not! All Americans enjoy the fruits of their protection, patriotism, service, honor, sense of duty and sacrifice. It is time...time for a grateful nation to reward these exceptional Americans.
When one considers the totality of their service and sacrifice, one can not help wonder why it is that we make these patriotic, selfless and brave people pay taxes on top of the payment they already make through their service. I would like to see our government, our nation pass a law making those who serve our country, in an active duty status, tax exempt. As for the reserves, they should be tax exempt when activated and deployed. We owe this to them and they deserve it.
No comments:
Post a Comment