Veterans Should Pay Taxes Like Everyone Else

here are the constant standing ovations at sports stadiums. There is the jump-to-the-front-of-the-line privileges at Amtrak and airline ticket counters. There is federal legislation to incentivize employers to hire veterans and White House pressure on federal agencies to do so.

And now comes another, increasingly prevalent way to show appreciation for those who’ve served in the military: exempting them from taxes.A growing number of states have moved to, or are considering, exempting military pensions from state income taxes. As the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, no fewer than 19 states are now considering legislation to create or expand tax breaks for veterans, with 65 bills toward that end pending in state houses.

Last year, Iowa passed a full exemption and Nebraska enacted a partial one.

Already, nearly half of all states don’t tax military pensions at all (this includes the seven states that don’t tax personal income, period), and 20 more states partially exempt them; there are only seven states left with no exemption for veterans.

And with nearly 2 million Americans collecting military pensions, the exemptions come at a substantial cost to state coffers: In Maryland, a proposal by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to exempt the 50,000 military pensions in the state from income taxes would cost the state $34 million in revenue and local governments $22 million, at a time when both are already facing a fiscal crunch.

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