WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), today announced the Senate passage of the Gold Star Family Tax Relief Act (S.1370), their legislation providing tax relief for children receiving benefits who have lost a parent serving in the military.
Simplification of a special tax dating back to 1986 that was intended to stop wealthy parents from sheltering income by shifting it to their children with lower tax rates inadvertently caused higher taxes on military survivor benefits. This bipartisan legislation effectively removes these benefits from the special 1986 tax, resolving the unintended tax treatment of survivor benefits.
“This bipartisan legislation is one step closer to helping those who lost a father or mother serving in the military to protect our freedom,” said Dr. Cassidy, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. “The Tax Cut and Jobs Act has helped millions. I thank Democratic colleagues for joining to improve the law and ensure more Americans benefit.”
“Gold Star families have sacrificed so much for our nation, and passing this legislation to remove the exorbitant tax on surviving children’s benefits is the least we can do,” said Senator Jones, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We can never truly thank these families enough for the sacrifices that they have made, but we can do everything in our power to honor and care for them. I am proud to have the bipartisan, unanimous support of the entire Senate in passing this bill.”
“The fair tax treatment of survivor benefits provided to the children of fallen soldiers isn’t a matter for partisan politics. By unanimously passing our bipartisan bill today, the Senate honors those Gold Star families who led the fight to have Congress address this issue,” said Senator Toomey. “I’m grateful that my colleagues moved swiftly to pass this measure, and hope the House passes the same bill in short order so that the president can sign it into law without delay.”
“No one has given more to our country than the families of our fallen heroes,” Senator Klobuchar said. “When I learned about the unacceptable mistake in the 2017 tax law that unduly burdened our Gold Star families, my colleagues and I moved immediately to fix the problem, and today the Senate took a huge step forward in getting this done. Gold Star families have already made the ultimate sacrifice for our country—their surviving family members shouldn’t have to sacrifice more.”
U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Warner (D-VA), Angus King (I-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bob Casey (D-PA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Steve Daines (R-MT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Tim Scott (R-SC), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), and Jon Tester (D-MT) are also cosponsors of the legislation.
###