We are extremely proud of the men and women of the United States Military. Service members and their families sacrifice a lot and face unique obstacles thrown at them daily. Understanding all of this, TaxSlayer.com wants to ensure they understand special tax benefits that are available to them. We want them to be aware of 9 commonly missed tax benefits: 1. Moving Expenses You may be able to deduct some of your unreimbursed moving expenses, if you are a member of the Armed Forces on active duty and you move because of a permanent change of station. You can also deduct moving expenses if you are out of the military and your move is closely related to the start of a new job location, and you meet certain tests. 2. Combat Pay Most enlisted military personnel or warrant officers know that if they serve in a combat zone for any part of a month, that all their pay received for military service during that month is not taxable. Military officers are eligible to receive tax free pay as well but it could be capped at the highest enlisted pay, plus hostile fire or imminent danger pay received. One little known fact is you can elect to include your nontaxable combat pay in your ‘earned income’ for purposes of claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. 3. Extension of Deadlines Qualifying members of the military can get an automatic extension for filing tax returns, paying taxes, filing claims for refund, and taking other actions with the IRS. 4. Military Uniform Cost and Upkeep You can deduct the cost and upkeep of uniforms that military regulations prohibit you from wearing when off duty. If you receive any allowance or reimbursement for the services you receive you will need to reduce your expenses by those amounts. 5. Joint Returns A power of attorney may be used on joint income tax returns if one spouse is unavailable due to military duty. 6. Travel to Reserve Duty If you are a member of the US Armed Forces Reserves, you can deduct unreimbursed travel expenses for traveling more than 100 miles away from home to perform your reserve duties. 7. ROTC Students Subsistence allowances paid to ROTC students participating in advanced training are not taxable. However, active duty pay – such as pay received during summer advanced camp – is taxable. 8. Job hunting expenses You may be able to deduct some costs you incur while looking for a new job after separating from the military. Expenses may include travel, resume preparation fees, and outplacement agency fees. 9. Forgiveness of Decedent’s Tax Liability Tax liability can be forgiven, or if already paid, refunded, if a member of the U.S. Armed forces dies while in active service in a combat zone; from wounds, disease, or other injury received in a combat zone; or from wounds or injury incurred in a terrorist or military action. If filing a joint return only the decedents part of the joint income tax liability is eligible for the refund or tax forgiveness.

The IRS has recently issued a new alert on a phishing technique directed toward members of the military, retirees, and civilian employees. Phishing is a criminal attempt to acquire personal information such as social security number, username and login information, credit card numbers and more. More often than not these attempts are electronically based and present themselves as legitimate emails and/or webpages. You should always be vigilant when giving out your personal information and should rarely if ever provide this information to an unknown source. Never enter this information after following a link from an email or suspicious website. This new scam appears to be an email from DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and even appears as a .mil email address. The email promises pthe possibility in increased availability for disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs and then asks the recipient to send off various forms to verify eligibility. Once these forms are sent the scammers will use the information on them to instigate identity theft. The IRS is actively pursuing this case and others like it but vigilance is key. As soon as this threat is neutralized there will undoubtedly be another to take its place. The IRS maintains a list of current phishing scams that is constantly updated. You can access this list here. Please know that TaxSlayer.com will NEVER request your personal information via email and ONLY through our secure servers.

TaxSlayer.com is pleased to announce their partnership with The Gator Bowl Association as the new title sponsor of the 2012 Gator Bowl. The TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl will be played on January 2, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time in Jacksonville, Florida and will be televised on ESPN2. TaxSlayer.com and the Gator Bowl share in the commitment to support College Sports and the College Community as well as supporting the United States Military. These two common interests make this a perfect partnership. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Gator Bowl Committee in supporting the Gator Bowl Games,” said Jimmy Rhodes, President of TaxSlayer.com. “Our company and this outstanding organization can combine our common efforts and make a stronger impact in serving the young adults and military personnel of this great country.” Greg Smith, Chairman of The Gator Bowl Association said: “We are extremely proud to be associated with such an outstanding company that shares the Gator Bowl’s commitment to college athletics. As the country’s 6th oldest Bowl game, we believe that TaxSlayer.com further enhances the Gator Bowl’s image as one of the premiere Bowl games in the nation.” The 2012 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl marks the 67th game for the Gator Bowl Classic. This year’s match-up will showcase a team from the Southeastern Conference against a team from the BIG10 Conference. In addition, TaxSlayer.com has been named an Associate Sponsor of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl and the BBVA Compass Bowl.

TaxSlayer.com proudly offers its services FREE to all active duty military! IRS Drops and Gives You 10…Military Tax Tips www.irs.gov Summer is a busy time for everyone, but particularly for military members and their families. Whether it’s moving to a new base or traveling to a duty station, members of the military have many obligations that could impact their tax situation. Here are 10 IRS tax tips military members should keep...