December 24, 2014

On December 16, the Senate cleared a $41.6 billion package of temporary tax breaks (H.R. 5771) for the 2014 tax year.   

The bill contains more than 50 tax breaks. Individual tax extensions which may affect MOAA members include: 

• the deduction of mortgage insurance premiums
• the deduction of state and local general sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes; and
• the exemption of distributions from individual retirement accounts for charitable purposes  

In addition, the extender package includes an issue MOAA has long advocated for – providing employers of National Guard and Reserve personnel with tax breaks as incentives to hire and retain them.    

The Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 first created such incentives for employers to help reduce veteran unemployment.    

H.R. 5771 extends business tax credits for differential wage payments to employees who are active duty members of the Uniformed Services and the work opportunity tax credit through tax year 2014.    

MOAA plans to pursue further extensions of these important tax credits in 2015.