Pay, tax benefits offered to troops in Balkans

U.S. troops involved in Operation Allied Force will receive $150 a month in danger pay as well as special tax benefits, the White House announced Monday.

Military personnel serving in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Albania, the Adriatic Sea and the northern Ionian Sea, or in the air above these areas, will be eligible for "imminent danger pay" of $150 per month.

Personnel in those areas will also receive the following tax benefits:

• An extension for filing and paying taxes.
• Military pay for months served in the combat zone will be exempt from income tax (subject to a dollar limit for commissioned officers), and will not be subject to income tax withholding.
• Telephone calls originating in the combat zone will be exempt from the telephone excise tax.

The extension of tax deadlines will also apply to U.S. military personnel deployed overseas in support of operations in the combat zone, and others, including Red Cross personnel.

Personnel serving in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia already receive these benefits under 1996 legislation.