HR 2157119th CongressIn Committee

To provide that members of the Armed Forces performing services in Kenya, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad shall be entitled to tax benefits in the same manner as if such services were performed in a combat zone.

Introduced: Mar 14, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

H.R. 2157 would treat Kenya, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad as a “qualified hazardous duty area” for U.S. tax purposes, equivalent to a combat zone, but only for the period during which service members in those locations receive special pay for hostile fire or imminent danger. In practical terms, this means the same military tax benefits that apply to service in a combat zone would apply to service in these four countries when such pay eligibility is in effect. The effect spans multiple provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, including how combat pay is taxed, rules on death and missing status, and certain timing and filing rules. The measure takes effect on the date of enactment.

Key Points

1The bill designates Kenya, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad as a qualified hazardous duty area for tax purposes during the period when U.S. service members are entitled to special pay under 37 U.S.C. 310 (hostile fire or imminent danger pay).
2It extends combat-zone tax treatment to several specific provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, including: exclusion of combat pay, treatment of death and missing-status situations, wage definitions, and certain post-ponement and filing rules (Sections 2(a)(3), 112, 692, 2201, 3401(a)(1), 4253(d), 6013(f)(1), and 7508).
3The designation is binding only for the period that the dangerous-duty special pay is in effect in those countries.
4The rule uses the same standard as combat zones under section 112 of the Code to determine eligibility for these benefits.
5The bill’s effective date is the date of enactment.

Impact Areas

Primary: Active-duty U.S. Armed Forces members performing service in Kenya, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad who are eligible for hostile fire/imminent danger pay.Secondary: Families of deployed service members, military pay and benefits administration, and tax officials (IRS/DoD) responsible for applying combat-zone tax rules.Additional impacts: Potential changes in tax planning and readiness costs for service members deployed to these locations; possible fiscal and administrative effects on the implementation of combat-zone tax benefits for these countries.

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