February 9, 2005 |
2005-R-0122 (Revised) | |
BENEFITS THAT SELECT STATES GIVE TO FULL-TIME, ACTIVE-DUTY SERVICEMEN | ||
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By: Veronica Rose, Principal Analyst | ||
You asked what benefits Connecticut, neighboring states, Georgia, and Virginia give to full-time, active-duty military personnel (OLR Report 2005-R-0108 summarizes the benefits for guardsmen and reservists called to active-duty service. )
The report summarizes the statutorily authorized benefits available to full-time active-duty military personnel in Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. The benefits generally fall into five categories: recreational, educational, motor vehicle registration and licensing, professional and occupational licensing, and miscellaneous. With exceptions, the report looks at current, rather than long range, benefits. For example, it does not discuss retirement benefits or tuition waivers for dependent children of deceased servicemen. The two exceptions are tax exemptions for retirement income and estates of deceased servicemen.
All the states, except Georgia and Virginia, allow nonresident full-time active-duty military personnel stationed in state to buy hunting and fishing licenses at the reduced resident fee. The license is free for Maine resident servicemen stationed out of state and New Hampshire residents stationed out of state who are in the state on furlough or leave.
In Connecticut and the other states, the dependent children of nonresident full-time, active-duty servicemen stationed in the state are eligible for in-state tuition. Only in Connecticut and Virginia are the servicemen themselves not considered residents for purposes of in-state tuition. (By law, people who move to Connecticut may apply for in-state classification for themselves and their spouses and unemancipated children after six months of residency, provided they are not here primarily as full-time students. )
The major financial benefits that states give to servicemen are tax exemptions for military retirement and combat zone pay. Connecticut is among three states that do not exempt or exclude any portion of military retirement pay from state tax. The other two are Rhode Island and Vermont. All eight states from which we were able to get information exempt combat zone pay from state tax.
States provide a variety of benefits that affect motor vehicle licensing and renewal. They also give servicemen various privileges, not shown in Table 1. These include allowing them to drive in state with a valid out-of-state license and operate in state with an expired license. Connecticut alone exempts one serviceman’s vehicle garaged out of state from licensing.
Table 1 summarizes the benefits that we were able to identify. Because of the nature and variety of the benefits, the information may not be comprehensive.
Table 1: Benefits that Select States Provide to Full-Time, Active Duty-Servicemen
CT |
Georgia |
Maine |
Mass |
New Hampshire |
New Jersey |
Rhode Island |
Vermont |
Virginia | |
RECREATIONAL |
|||||||||
Buy fishing, hunting, and trapping license at resident fee |
Yes, for nonresident serviceman stationed in state (CGS § 26-34a) |
No |
Yes, for nonresident serviceman stationed in state (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Tit. § 10752); resident serviceman stationed out of state pay only the administrative cost of issuing the license; Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Tit. 12 § 10853) |
Yes for nonresident serviceman stationed in state (Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. 131 § 11) |
Yes, for nonresident serviceman stationed in state; resident serviceman on furlough in state can get free license (N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 214: 3)) |
Yes, for nonresident serviceman stationed in state (N. J. Stat. Ann. § 23: 3-1) |
Yes, for nonresident serviceman stationed in state (R. I. Gen Laws § 20-2-31) |
Yes, for nonresidents stationed in Vermont; free for Vermont residents in active-duty military (Vt. Stat. Ann. Tit. 10 § 4259) |
No |
EDUCATION |
|||||||||
Pay in-state tuition at public colleges |
No for serviceman and spouse; yes for unemancipated minor child of serviceman stationed in state; CGS §§ 10a-28 & 10a-29) |
Yes (serviceman and dependents) |
Yes (serviceman, spouse, and dependents) |
Yes (serviceman, spouse, and dependent children) |
Yes (serviceman, spouse, and dependent children) |
Yes (serviceman and dependents; N. J. Stat. Ann. § 18A: 62-4. 1) |
Yes (serviceman, spouse, and dependent children) |
Yes (serviceman, spouse, and dependents; (Vt. Stat. Ann. Tit. 16 §§ 2185 & 2282a) |
Spouses and dependents for one year: benefit continues only if the nonmilitary spouse establishes residence and meets other standards (Va. Code Ann. § 23-7. 4) |
-Continued-
CT |
Georgia |
Maine |
Mass |
New Hampshire |
New Jersey |
Rhode Island |
Vermont |
Virginia | |
EDUCATION |
|||||||||
Free attendance at public schools |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Yes (while custodial parent is deployed abroad (Va. Code Ann. § 22. 1-3) |
Fee waived for high school diploma |
Yes (for serviceman under age 21; CGS § 10-5) |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
Not addressed |
TAX AND FINANCIAL |
|||||||||
Military pension exempt from tax |
No |
Income exclusion of up to $ 15,000 for age 62 or older |
Yes (full exemption) |
$ 6, 000 exclusion (minus Social Security and Railroad retirement benefits) |
NA (no state income tax) |
Yes (full exemption) |
No |
No |
$ 6,000 exclusion for tax payer age 62-64; $ 12,000 for age 65 or older (VA. Code Ann. § 58. 1-322) |
Combat zone pay exempt from state tax |
Yes (follows federal rules) |
Unable to determine |
Yes |
Yes (to the same extent as federal law) |
NA (no state income tax) |
Yes |
Yes (follows federal rules) |
Yes (also all military pay earned for full-time active duty service out of state is exempt) |
Yes |
Serviceman exempt from state commuter tax |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Yes, from state 4% commuter income tax (N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 77-B2) |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
-Continued-
CT |
Georgia |
Maine |
Mass |
New Hampshire |
New Jersey |
Rhode Island |
Vermont |
Virginia | |
TAX AND FINANCIAL |
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Extension for filing state income tax returns/tax deferral |
Yes, while deployed in combat zone or to provide combat zone support plus period of continued hospitalizat-ion and 180 days after (CGS § 12-724); Yes (municipal property tax while deployed in the Middle East, CGS § 146) |
Yes, while deployed abroad plus six months; also while performing combat zone or support service; Ga. Code Ann. §§ 48-7-56 & 48-7-36) |
Yes, for combat zone and deployment abroad for contingency operations) |
Yes (taxpayers may request an automatic 6-month extension; Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. 62C § 81) |
NA (no state income tax) |
Yes (for active-duty personnel who did not file because of distance, injury, or hospitalization arising from service; N. J. Stat. Ann § 54A: 8-1) |
Yes (follows federal rules) |
Yes (Vt. Stat. Ann. Tit. 32 §§ 5830d(1) & 5380d(2))) |
Yes (for Operation Desert Shield and other named conflicts; Va. Code Ann § 58. 1-344) |
Property tax exemption for vehicle garaged out of state |
Yes (CGS § 12-81(53)) |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
Estate of serviceman who dies in active service in combat zone exempt from tax due in year of death and previous combat years |
Yes (CGS § 12-724(b)(1)) |
Yes (follows federal rules) |
Yes (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Tit 36 § 5116) |
No |
Not applicable |
Yes (N. J. Stat. Ann § 54A: 9-16) |
Unable to determine for combat zone (but estate of serviceman classified as missing in action is exempt from state and transfer taxes (R. I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-2) |
Yes (follows federal rules) |
Unable to determine |
-Continued-
CT |
Georgia |
Maine |
Mass |
New Hampshire |
New Jersey |
Rhode Island |
Vermont |
Virginia | |
MOTOR VEHICLE |
|||||||||
License fee exemption/waiver |
Yes (waive license and registration fee for person in active service and for one license period for person honorably separated) |
Yes (for any resident serving on active duty; Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Tit. 29-A: § 1255) |
Yes (renewal fee waived for resident serviceman’s license that expired in active-duty service; N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 263. 11) |
Yes (motor vehicle administrator authorized to issue a special free license to servicemen who were state residents when they enlisted; the license is valid during the period of service plus 30 days (R. I. Gen. Laws § 31-10-8) |
Unable to determine |
Unable to determine | |||
Refund on motor vehicle registration |
Yes (when inducted into the Armed Forces, refunds to be made on prorate basis; CGS § 14-23) |
Unable to determine |
Unable to determine |
Unable to determine |
Yes (serviceman may request suspension of registration and get pro rata refunds; N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 261: 68) |
Yes (for the number of months remaining on the registration when one enters active service; N. J. Stat. Ann. § 39: 3-22. 2) |
Unable to determine |
Unable to determine |
Unable to determine |
-Continued-
CT |
Georgia |
Maine |
Mass |
New Hampshire |
New Jersey |
Rhode Island |
Vermont |
Virginia | |
LICENSES |
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Professional and Occupational licenses that expire in service renewable after discharge |
Yes (various, 19a-88b) |
Unable to determine |
Yes (various) |
Unable to determine |
Unable to determine |
Yes (N. J. Stat. Ann. § 45: 14C-18) |
Yes (various) |
Unable to determine |
Yes (blanket exemption from expiration while in service (Va. Code Ann. § 54-1-117) |
Exempt from paying certain fees and taxes while in active duty service |
Exempt from paying annual and biennial license and registration and occupational taxes during service plus one year (CGS § 27-102a) |
Exempt form paying certain professional and license renewal fees during wartime when stationed abroad (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Tit. 32 § 13908) |
Yes (Va. Code Ann. § 54-1-117) | ||||||
MISCELLANEOUS |
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Early termination of rental or lease agreements |
Yes (CGS § 21-82) |
Yes (under certain conditions Ga. Code Ann. § 44-7-37) |
Yes (when reassigned out of state and with 7-day notice (N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 540: 11-a) |
Yes (when reassigned out of state and with 7-day notice (N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 540: 11-a)) |
Yes (Va. Code Ann. § 55-248. 21. 1) |
VR: ts