- 1 -
|
KANSAS INCOME TAX INSTRUCTIONS FOR ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL
The following information may be of assistance in determining whether or not service personnel are liable for
Kansas income tax and when returns should be filed.
Kansas law (K.S.A. 79-32,110) imposes a tax upon the Kansas taxable income of every Kansas resident,
regardless of where earned, and upon the Kansas taxable income of every nonresident where such income is
derived from sources within the state.
The service pay of members of the armed forces is taxable only by the state of their legal residence, regardless of
where they may be stationed in the line of duty.
The place of residency at the time of induction into the service is normally presumed to be the legal state of
residence of service members. It remains so until they actually establish residency in another state and change
their service records in recognition thereof.
If you are an enlisted member, warrant officer, or commissioned warrant officer and you serve in a combat zone
during any part of a month, all of your military pay for that month is excluded from your income. You can also
exclude military pay earned while you are hospitalized as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred in the
combat zone. The exclusion of your military pay while you are hospitalized does not apply to any month that
begins more than 2 years after the end of combat activities in that combat zone. Your hospitalization does not
have to be in the combat zone.
If you are a commissioned officer (other than a commissioned warrant officer), you may exclude your pay
according to the rules just discussed. However, the amount of your exclusions is limited to the highest rate of
enlisted pay (plus imminent danger/hostile fire pay you received) for each month during any part of which you
served in a combat zone or were hospitalized as a result of your service there. See IRS Publication 3, Armed
Forces Tax Guide, and 26 USC 112.
Pursuant to K.S.A. 79-32,117, the Kansas adjusted gross income of an individual shall mean the individual’s
federal adjusted gross income for the taxable year with specific modifications. Therefore, the beginning point for
computing Kansas income tax shall be the federal adjusted gross income. Thus, to the extent compensation
earned in a combat zone is excluded from federal adjusted gross income, it shall also be excluded from Kansas
adjusted gross income, and therefore shall be exempt from Kansas income tax.
th
Kansas state income tax returns are due on or before the 15 day of the fourth month following the close of the
taxable year. K.S.A. 79-3221(c) allows the Director of Taxation to grant a reasonable extension of time for filing a
Kansas individual income tax return. The Department of Revenue shall recognize and accept as a properly
approved extension of time a copy of federal Form 4868, application for automatic extension of time for filing
individual income tax returns; and an approved copy of Form 2688, application for extension of time for filing
individual income tax returns.
K.S.A. 79-3221(d) provides that the time of service shall be disregarded in the case of an individual serving in the
armed forces of the United States, in an area designated as a “combat zone” by the President of the United States,
or the period of service plus the period of continuous hospitalization shall be disregarded in the case of an
individual who has been hospitalized outside the states as a result of injury received while serving in such area,
and the next 180 days thereafter in calculating any tax liability (including any interest, penalty, additional amount,
or addition to the tax) of the individual. This shall mean that an individual shall have 180 days after their return
from the combat zone to file their Kansas income tax return, without incurring any interest or penalties.
The individual who delays filing his/her Kansas income tax return under the above provisions must enclose a
statement with their tax return, when it is filed, stating they were on active duty in the “combat zone”, and giving the
date they returned to the United States.
IA-36 (Rev. 1/04)
|