The FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act and the American Taxpayer Relief Act include a number of pay and tax changes that affect Servicemembers and their families and DoD civilian employees. There has been much media reporting on the effects of the tax bill, but many DoD personnel may be unsure of how the changes in the tax rules and guidelines directly affect them.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has the information DoD personnel need. A DFAS news bulletin summarizes pay changes and the relevant tax law changes and factors that may affect pay. In addition, it briefly describes when Active duty, Guard, and Reserve members, military retirees, and civilian employees can expect to see changes in their 2013 pay resulting from the new tax law.
The bulletin draws particular attention to the increase in the Social Security withholding amount (FICA) to 6.2 percent in 2013 from 4.2 percent in 2012. It also provides a few examples for servicemembers that show the effects of the FICA increase and the 1.7 percent military pay increase.
DFAS encourages all DoD personnel to review their January statements to see how these changes are reflected in their pay.
