Military Personnel and Taxes


The Servicemember Civil Relief Act (SCRA) is a federal statute allowing military service members to suspend or postpone some civil obligations so the service member can devote full attention to military duties.

The Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) follows the IRS in automatically extending income tax deadlines for 180 days after deactivation for filing returns, paying taxes, filing claims for refunds, and taking other actions with the department if any of the following situations apply:

  • You serve in the Armed Forces in a combat zone or you have qualifying service outside of a combat zone.
  • You serve in the Armed Forces in a qualified hazardous duty area or are deployed overseas away from your permanent duty station in support of operations in a qualified hazardous duty area, but your deployment station is outside the qualified hazardous duty area.
  • You serve in the Armed Forces on deployment outside the United States away from your permanent duty station while participating in a contingency operation. A contingency operation is a military operation that is designated by the Secretary of Defense or results in calling members of the uniformed services to active duty (or retains them on active duty) during a war or a national emergency declared by the President or Congress.

By extending tax deadlines, the department hopes to provide service members with a smooth and convenient transition before, during, and after deployment.

Service Member

The service pay you or your spouse received as members of the armed forces is taxable only by your state of legal residence. Usually, your state of legal residence is the state you lived in at the time of induction into the service. Any pay received outside of your service pay is subject to state tax. The State of Kansas Department of Revenue website provides information on SCRA.

Service Member's Spouse

The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act includes privileges to a military service member's spouse.

The spouse of a military service member may be exempt from Kansas individual income tax on income from services performed in Kansas if:

  1. The service member is serving in Kansas in compliance with military orders, and
  2. The spouse is residing in Kansas solely to be with the service member, and
  3. The service member and spouse are not residents of Kansas (i.e., the service member and spouse are legal residents of another state of the United States or a foreign country).

The exemption from Kansas income tax does not extend to income from Kansas sources earned by the nonresident service member.

For more information search for "Kansas Tax Notice 09-12" on the Kansas Dept. of Revenue website.