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Moving forward

My thought that we military spouses are being unfairly penalized started with an ironic remark from a sister-in-law. She told me she knew that every time we moved for the military we got a lot of great free stuff.

“Free stuff? I’m not sure about that,” I said, not wanting to argue. But then I thought about it. What military spouses do get for free with every move are hassles — and some costly ones.

Each time a military spouse moves, she (most likely, as 92 percent are female) is free to get a new driver’s license at a cost; dump her last congressional representative; re-register her car for a couple of hundred dollars; and figure out how, when and for whom to vote in the new state.

If she is one of the 70 percent of active-duty military spouses who are employed, she is free to lose her job and some self-worth with each move. If she keeps her job or finds a new one in a high income-tax area, then she can expect to reduce her income. About the time she figures out all the “great free stuff” she’s entitled to at the assignment location, it is time to move again.

All this because as military spouses, we likely are residents of a different state than the person we are married to. Legally, we do not share the same state residency treatment as our service member spouses. For modern military spouses, this is an unequal and unnecessary burden and one that has been around for a long time.

Under the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Relief Act of 1940, service members were allowed to declare a permanent state of residency while on active duty. The law allowed a service member to claim a permanent state of residence or “home state” for the duration of his military service. But the service member’s spouse, who is not covered under this law — revamped a few years ago as the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act — must change residency with each move to a new state.

As the working wife of a soldier, changing residency and not sharing a home state with my husband is inconvenient, confusing and expensive. Through the Military Spouse Business Association, a networking organization for military spouse business owners and professionals, I have met spouses from across the country and from all services who were similarly frustrated.

As military spouses, it was time to engage in a joint mission for equality, common sense and betterment of our lives. Last summer, we took our experiences with the residency issue to Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, who represents Fort Hood, one of the largest military installations in the U.S.

We told him there is a cost paid by nearly 1 million active-duty military spouses in time, money and income — and not by choice, as it is our spouses, the service members, who are ordered to relocate by the military.

By constantly moving, accompanying military spouses regularly sacrifice their personal choices and professional aspirations to support the nation’s military mission. As a result, military spouses are unfairly and repeatedly penalized by having to comply with various state residency and tax requirements.

In May, Rep. Carter introduced the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, which would extend to spouses the same option of permanent state residency as provided to service members, eliminating the residency hassles experienced by military spouses.

More significantly, it would address the “camouflage barrier,” the financial strife that the majority of working spouses face with every move. A Rand Corp. study confirms the military spouse’s income shrinks by more than $5,500 annually when compared to a nonmoving civilian counterpart.

Here is my example of how the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act could maintain military spouse income.

I was happily working for a big company when my husband got assignment orders to relocate. I was thrilled to transfer my job at the same pay with the same employer to the new location. Then I discovered the new state has a high income tax and was shocked to find my income was actually 10 percent less per month.

This really hurt our family’s financial stability. The bill would eliminate arbitrary state tax burdens when it comes to military spouse income.

With this legislation, employed and self-employed military spouses would be able to protect their income by allowing the spouse’s primary income to be treated according to the rules of her state of residency, not the one in which she is temporarily located. For those with portable businesses or professions, a growing and positive trend among military spouses, a single home state lessens administrative and tax burdens.

The Military Spouses Residency Relief Act would eliminate a lot of the unnecessary problems military spouses must endure in such moves. It would give spouses recognition, equality and common-sense treatment.

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Rebecca Noah Poynter is an Army wife, writer and owner of OnPoynt Communications. She is also co-founder of the Military Spouse Business Association.

DISCUSS: Would the Relief Act provide relief for your family?