Sen. Doug Jones introduced legislation alongside other senators on Wednesday that would provide tax relief for survivor benefits received by children of military members who lost their lives during service.
The bill, called the Gold Star Family Tax Relief Act, would reverse a 2017 provision to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that raised taxes on these survivor benefits to rates up to 37 percent. This 2017 provision has been called the “Kiddie Tax.”
This bill was released shortly after Jones released legislation to repeal the “Widow’s Tax,” a law that has prevented many military spouses from receiving full survivors benefits from the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Military spouse households with children, nicknamed Gold Star Families, often put their Department of Defense benefits in their children’s names in order to collect full survivor benefits.
“Gold Star families have given more to our country than most of us could ever imagine,” Jones said. “While we can never repay their immense sacrifices, we do make a solemn commitment to care for them. Unfortunately, thousands of these widows and widowers are currently denied the full benefits they’re due, which forces many to resort to putting some of these benefits in their children’s names. To significantly raise taxes on those children’s benefits is unconscionable, and I am proud to join with my colleague Sen. Cassidy to propose legislation to correct this egregious mistake.”
Sens. Bill Cassidy, Amy Klobuchar, Pat Toomer, Mark Warner, Chuck Grassley, Ron Wyden and Angus King introduced the legislation alongside Jones and 21 other bipartisan senators.
