Spc. Jaden Simos (right), a medic with 708th Medical Company Ground Ambulance, checks Pfc. Joel Ocon, a medic with the unit. Meanwhile, Spc. Simon Rupniewski (left), applies a tourniquet. The soldiers were training in a casualty drill on March 7, 2026, in La Grange Park, Ill. (Gerardo A. Valdes/Illinois National Guard)
WASHINGTON — A new House bill is seeking to exempt pay earned by members of the National Guard and Reserve during their drill weekends from federal income taxes.
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., would ensure Inactive Duty Training pay, which service members receive during drills they typically take part in one weekend a month, would not be taxed federally.
Current law requires Guardsmen and Reservists to pay federal income taxes on compensation for drills as well as additional readiness activities throughout the year.
Barr said ending federal taxes on such pay will reward the more than 800,000 members of the Guard and Reserve who balance civilian careers and family responsibilities with military service and provide other benefits for the military.
“The No Tax on Drill Pay Act will boost recruitment and retention, strengthen military readiness, and continue our commitment to treating our military better than any in the world,” he said in a statement.
Lawmakers have floated several measures in recent years to make military pay tax-free, including a sweeping proposal late last year to eliminate federal income tax on all active-duty and reserve pay, including enlistment, retention and education bonuses and all special and incentive pays.
Republican Reps. Max Miller of Ohio, a former member of the Marine Corps Reserve, and Zach Nunn of Iowa, a colonel in the Iowa Air National Guard, originally cosponsored a bill focused on drill pay that Barr has now reintroduced.
Nunn said he often hears complaints from Iowa Guardsmen and their families about the financial strain of serving part time in the military while holding full-time civilian jobs.
“If we truly value the service of our Guardsmen and reservists, the least we can do is let them keep every dollar they earn while preparing to defend our country,” said Miller.
The National Guard Association of the United States has endorsed the legislation, saying it will help recruit and retain the force and provide recognition for the time citizen-soldiers and airmen spend training for emergencies at home and deployments abroad.
