European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 8 the stars and stripes your income part 6 february 1981 or income part 6 a special category of deductions by Walter Yohey ply to military personnel were stating the Cost of military personnel often pay i note this is the sixth in a them strictly for the convenience of any laundry and dry cleaning of both military use of a military allotment who s of tax articles by Walter Yochy nonmilitary readers of this article and civilian maid baggage of a portion of a members pay i noted tax accountant and author of 1 distance Rule the distance Between Telephone taxable quarters by Walter Yohey editors note this is the sixth in a series of tax articles by Walter Yochy a noted tax accountant and author of the 1981 income Tux guide for military personnel which is now available at your stars and stripes save tax dollars by adjusting your income after you determine your total income from All the area of tax adjust ments becomes extremely this is especially True for military person Nel who have made a pcs move during the tax arc re aired to perform substantial temporary duty toy travel in connection with their and those members who pay Alimony to a former tax adjustments arc a special category of deductions you May claim regardless of whether you claim the Zero bracket amount Standard deduction or you choose to itemize your other deductions for the tax moving expense adjustment if you moved in connection with a per manent change of station pcs assign its important to remember that Many of your a reimbursed moving expenses May be deducted on your tax return As an adjustment to your while your moving expenses must be theres no Overall Dollar limit on the total amount of these expenses you May certain items of expense do have limits but these limits vary substantially depending on whether your move is made within the or is made to an overseas there Are two Basic rules for claiming the moving expense keep in that these rules do not apply to military personnel were stating them strictly for the convenience of any nonmilitary readers of this article 1 distance Rule the distance Between the old and new place of employment must be at least 35 Miles farther than he Dis Tance Between your old place of employ ment and your former 2 employment Rule you must be employed on a full time basis for at least 39 weeks during the 12month period immediately after the deductible moving expenses include the costs of meals and lodging for you and your As Well As the costs incurred to transport personal effects and household goods this includes the Cost of shipping cars and pets it also includes meals and lodging expenses you in cur for remove House Hunting trips and for meals and lodging while living in temporary quarters at the new duty in addition to the above and this is very important to military most of the major costs associated with buying and Selling a House in connection with a move Are also deductible this can result in a deduction of up to adjustment for employee expenses there arc Many Job related expenses you incur which May be claimed As an adjustment to these include such items As excess costs incurred while on temporary duty toy travel expenses incurred while pursuing of duty educational programs connected with your military certain uniform the Cost of dues in certain professional As the Cost of certain professional publications such As the Navy or air Force deductible try travel expenses include the Cost of laundry and dry cleaning of both military and civilian maid baggage Telephone and expenses of a similar nature which Are officially connected to your when you use your personal car to per form the you May claim either your actual vehicle expenses or you May claim a Standard mileage the present Standard mileage allowance which you May claim without having to substantiate your expenses is 20 cents per mile for the first Miles of and 10 cents per mile for mileage in excess of of duty educational expenses Are another area of major deductions for military per if the educational endeavours Are Job related and will not qualify you for a new the Cost of travel to and from school is you May deduct certain educational expenses Tui registration As an itemized the Alimony adjustment amounts you pay As Alimony or Sepa rate maintenance to a former spouse under certain deductible As an adjustment to to qualify As an the payments must be made because of the marital relationship and they must be considered they must also be required by and paid Inci Dent to a court a decree of sup or a written separation Lump sum Cash property set or payments not made under a court order dont qualify As payments which represent child support Are not deductible As Alimony but they May help you qualify to claim the child As a reorganizes entertainment system savvy Sailor keeps frigate humming by Daniel Meyer with the sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean the resourcefulness of the american Sailor has become legend through the he has been known to do nearly impossible tasks with practically and what Little he did have was acquired in the most ingenious a Good example of a Sailor with that Type of initiative is sonar technician Rich Ard aboard the frigate Edward the Colorado native is responsible for the reorganization of the ships entertainment which had fallen into disrepair after not being used for several Hays first walked into web Eddie Mac broadcasting in april several months before the ship was due to sail for the the equipment was All pretty old and worn Hays the records were All shuffled around and out of nothing was it was then that Hays made the offer to help with rewiring the station to make the system better for the upcoming the initial offer turned into a full scale refurbishing of the it got to be a much bigger Job than i and seemed to grow a Little each he rather than just reworking the Hays decided it would be Best to Start from throwing out what was no War Mckinney Dies san Diego a Joseph my a retired Navy rear Admiral who commanded the destroyer Marshall during the world War ii Battles off Okinawa and died at the age of longer usable and building from those plans involved remodelling the studio with the help of some Friendly Hull using every spare Inch Avail Able in the tiny space aboard the Hays designed an entire console housing for the leaving space for what he hoped to Nave in the the plans for the console were sent to the Maypart Shore immediate maintenance activity and within two Days it was finished and on the the entire piece is made of Sheet Metal with a simulated Wood the first few weeks web played mostly taped programs provided by the armed forces radio to using a reel to reel tape but the Cabinet had been built with an audio mixing Board in mind and Hays and another Crew member set out to find we were in Marseille he just trying to find the right piece of gear that would fit and could do what was we had it on Board later that the new mixer required an entirely new wiring Hays did the work during his free he also wired speak ers into 55 work spaces and living compartments so that the entire ship would be wired for sound from by this the station was capable of playing not Only but also had a cassette two turntables and a microphone for with All this behind Hays found that a great Deal of organization was needed before the station could begin live the records had Long ago been taken out of he i categorized the music according to and the alphabetized Index cards according to it int a perfect but we Are pretty Well Able to take requests during the regular work both in port and at web plays mostly taped news such As Navy and music shows like Charlie tuna and country Hays is proud that the station caters to the entire the station is also proud of its live pro each Day after the completion of the ships web goes live and the stations disc jockeys seem to have a Good they go into the studio and spend two hours entertaining their he the djs can play what they but must often play Ensign Meyer works with the 6th Fleet Public affairs office for by Doug Tesner Richard Hays nothing was organized military personnel often pay Alimony by use of a military allotment which consists of a portion of a members pay and a non taxable quarters since the quarters allowance is not taxable Only that portion of the allotment rep resenting a deduction from the members pay May be claimed As an Alimony Deduc forfeited interest adjustment savings invested in Long Range Deposit programs such As certificates of Deposit or Money Market certificates usually earn taxable interest if savings Are withdrawn from such a program before a specified most financial institutions will charge you a penalty or require that you forfeit a portion of the in stances May arise where interest which has already been paid to you and reported As income on your tax return will have to be repaid to the financial if this amounts which Are forfeited or repaid May be claimed As an adjustment to your financial institutions which handle accounts of this nature Are required to report to the irs and the account Holder the amount of interest such accounts earn As Well As any amount which is repaid or when reporting such a trans action on your report the entire amount of interest the account earned and then claim the repaid or forfeited amount As an individual retirement accounts Keogh plan adjustments while the adjustments for an individual retirement account Ira or a Keogh plan do not apply to Active duty military you May qualify for these adjustments if you have a second Job or Are engaged in a self employment individuals employed by a company where the employees Are not covered by a qualified retirement plan Are entitled to establish an individual retirement account and deduct certain contributions to that account As an adjustment to their in since military personnel Are covered by a retirement such an account can not be established based upon your Mili tary pay but an account May be established for any of duty Job you might have where you Are not covered by a retirement program along the same a self employed individual May establish his or her own retirement plan known As a authorized contributions to a Keogh plan May also be claimed As an adjustment to the Basic difference Between the two plans is the employment status of the per son involved As Well As the amounts the individual May contribute to the two Dif Ferent contributions to an Ira account Are limited to 15 of the employees up to a maximum of of on the other contributions to a Keogh account Are basically limited to 15 of net income from with a maximum contribution of procedures for establishing and participating in a Keogh or Ira program Are fairly Complex you would be Wise to seek professional assistance if attempting to enrol in such a editors note while the information provided in this article is of general use to military please keep in mind that the space allowed for such an article dictates that these subjects be discussed in the most general of More detailed guidance on each of the subjects discussed can be found in Yohes Book 1981 income tax guide for military person Nel which is now available at your stars stripes the next article in this series will Dis cuss ways to reduce your taxes by taking advantage of your tax credits another important Benefit for military taxpayers