Its always preferrable to obtain tax relief on the front end rather than having to scramble for it after the IRS comes knocking. Today the IRS released another installment in its Summertime Tax Tips series, this time listing some special tax breaks for military personnel that can help them keep their tax bill low. Members of the military enjoy special benefits such as relaxed filing rules and deadlines, exempted combat pay, and deductions for moving and travel expenses. See the full article here.

After looking at this list, you may find yourself wondering what other classes of individuals qualify for special tax relief or benefits. One such group is the elderly. Another is the disabled. There are individual tax guides for each of these groups in case you want to read up:

• Military: Pub 3
• Seniors: Pub 554
• Disabled: Pub 907

The government gives certain tax breaks to the elderly, and the disabled because we believe it is important to show compassion for these classes of individuals. As for the military, we are proud of what they are doing for our country and we want them to be able to focus more on the task at hand to increase the likelihood of success. Perhaps the military tax benefits are more akin to a different class of incentives that are offered to influence certain behaviors. Some of the behaviors that the government seeks to influence through tax incentives are energy efficiency, health, purchasing, education, and adoption. Maybe the tax benefits available to the military also work as an incentive for the youth of our country to join the armed forces. Of course whether or not tax incentives actually affect behavior is debatable.