Military personnel receive their wages through the LES.
The Entitlements column reflects a military person's payments and allowances.
The Deductions column shows items that are deducted from the entitlements column including tax withholdings, tax payments, Medicare and debt collections.
The Allotments column shows items paid to a qualified person or business.
There are numerous items that can appear in these three columns for different military personnel in different types of deployment and housing situations. The following lists the most common of these items and how each are counted in the budget when determining eligibility.
Note:
Military pay is received via direct deposit. The name of the bank and account number are listed at the bottom right of the Leave and Earnings Statement.
|
ENTITLEMENTS |
|
ENTITLEMENT DEFINITIONS |
COUNTS AS INCOME? |
| ADVANCE DEBT: Debt repayment from advance pay. |
NO |
| ADVANCE PAY: Pay that can be drawn interest free up to three months in advance. |
NO |
| AMOUNT BROUGHT FORWARD FROM PREVIOUS MONTH (AMTFWD): Amount of all unpaid pay or allowances brought forward from the previous month. |
NO |
| AVIATION CAREER INCENTIVE PAY: Special pay to officers who hold positions or are in training to get positions in aviation. |
YES |
| BAH DIFFERENTIAL (BAH-DIF): The difference between the full married BAH rate and full single BAH is paid to military personnel who do not have custody of their children and are paying court ordered child support. |
YES |
| BASE PAY OR BASIC PAY: A military person's base pay before other entitlements are added. |
YES |
| BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR HOUSING (BAH) or BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR QUARTERS (BAQ): The military offers free or subsidized housing to all its personnel. The amount of BAH is dependent upon the rank, location, and whether they have dependents. |
VARIES SEE SNAP MS 605-2 (E)(2) & (3) |
| BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR SUBSISTENCE (BAS): This is a military person's food allowance. Most (but not all) of the BAS is automatically deducted from the paychecks of members required to consume meals in the dining facilities. |
YES |
| CAREER SEA PAY & REGULAR SEA PAY: Special pay received by military personnel on sea duty. |
YES |
| CAREER ENLISTED FLYER INCENTIVE PAY (CEFIP): Special pay for Navy or Air Force who perform operational flying duties. |
YES |
| CLOTHING ALLOWANCE (CMA): Annual clothing allowance paid to military personnel for the repair/replacement of military clothing issued during basic training. |
NO |
| COMBAT PAY (or incentive pay for hazardous duty, hostile fire pay, or imminent danger pay): Payments to a military person assigned or deployed to a combat zone. |
NO |
| COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE (COLA): Compensation paid to military personnel who are stationed in certain "high-cost" locations in the continental United States. |
YES |
| DISLOCATION ALLOWANCE (DLA) due to PCL. Partial payment of relocation expenses (not otherwise reimbursed) paid to military personnel when relocating their household due to a PCL. | NO |
| DIVING DUTY PAY: Special pay for Armed Force military personnel assigned to diving duty. |
YES |
| FAMILY SEPARATION ALLOWANCE (FSA): Allowance to military personnel with dependents anytime they are away from their families (due to military orders) for 30 days or longer. |
YES |
| FAMILY SUBSISTENCE SUPPLEMENTAL ALLOWANCE (FSSA): Assistance to certain military personnel and their families so they will not have to rely on food stamps to make ends meet. |
YES |
| FLIGHT PAY: Allowances to military personnel who are on flying status. |
YES |
| FOREIGN DUTY PAY (FDP): Special pay received by military personnel on duty outside the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. |
YES |
| FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY PAY (FLPP): Special pay to military personnel receiving basic pay and certified by the individual service secretary to be proficient in a foreign language. |
YES |
| HARDSHIP DUTY PAY-INVOLUNTARY EXTENSION: Extra pay to military personnel on designated involuntary extension. |
VARIES, SEE SNAP MS 605-2 E (b)(ii) |
| HARDSHIP DUTY PAY-LOCATION (HDP-L): Compensation paid to military personnel assigned outside the continental United States in Quality of Life (QoL) Hardship locations. |
VARIES, SEE SNAP MS 605-2 E (b)(ii) |
| HARDSHIP DUTY PAY-MISSION (HDP-M): Special pay to military personnel for performing designated hardship missions. |
VARIES, SEE SNAP MS 605-2 E (b)(ii) |
| JUMP PAY: Special pay or allotment if required to jump from an airplane. |
YES |
| LEAVE OR SEPARATE RATIONS: Special pay to military personnel who live in housing that are not required to consume meals in the dining facilities. |
YES |
| MOVING HOUSING ALLOWANCE (MIHA), MISCELLANEOUS, RENT, AND SECURITY: MIHA-Up front - Reimbursement for household necessities. MIHA Rent - Reimbursement for one time fees such as real estate agent or redecoration fees. MIHA Security - Reimbursement for security improvements. |
NO |
| NATIONAL GUARD PAY: Basic pay for service personnel of the National Guard. |
YES |
| PER DIEM: Special pay to military personnel to help defer the costs of traveling on temporary orders. |
NO, unless exceeds actual costs. |
| REENLISTMENT BONUSES: This payment could be received a lump sum or in installments. |
YES, if received in installments. NO, if received in as a non-recurring lump sum. |
| SAVE PAY: This is pay received by an enlisted military person who accepts an appointment as an officer. |
NO |
| SPECIAL DUTY ASSIGNMENT PAY (SDAP): Pay to military personnel in addition to basic pay for performing extremely difficult duties, or duties involving as unusual degree of responsibility. | YES |
| SPECIAL PAY FOR MEDICAL AND DENTAL OFFICERS: Special pay for health professionals. |
YES |
| SPECIAL PAY FOR WARFARE: A bonus paid to an officer who remains in active duty in special warfare service for at least one year, up to $15,000 for each year of continuation. |
YES, if received in installments. NO, if received in as a non-recurring lump sum. |
| SUBMARINE DUTY INCENTIVE PAY: Special pay to sailors under orders to a submarine. |
YES |
| SUPPORT/COMMUNITY DEBT (CHILD SUPPORT): This is normally child or spousal support owed outside the household and is not extra pay. |
NO |
| WOUNDED WARRIOR PAY: Pay to military personnel receiving medical treatment and rehabilitation until they have returned to active duty. |
YES |
|
DEDUCTIONS |
|
DEDUCTION DEFINITIONS |
ALLOWABLE DEDUCTION? |
| ARMED FORCES RETIREMENT HOME (AFRH): A retirement community that offers residential living quarters, health care, social services, recreational and entertainment programs. |
NO |
| DEBT: This is repayment of a debt by a military person. |
NO |
| FAMILY SGLI (FSGLI): A low cost group life insurance for a military person's spouse and children. |
NO |
| REPAY ADVANCE: This is a repayment of advance pay. |
NO, not an allowable deduction. This is repayment of a debt. |
| SERVICE MEMBER'S GROUP LIFE INSURANCE (SGLI): A low cost group life insurance for military personnel. |
NO |
| SUPPORT/COMM DEBT (CHILD SUPPORT): This is a child or spousal support payment. |
YES, if legal child support obligation is verified through CSSD or a court order. |
| THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN (TSP): This is a retirement savings account. |
NO |
| Alimony paid to a spouse by retired military | YES |
|
ALLOTMENTS |
|
ALLOTMENT DEFINITIONS |
IS IT AN ISSUE? |
| DISCRETIONARY ALLOTMENT: This is a designated amount of money that is automatically distributed from a military person's pay and may be stopped, started, or adjusted at will. These can include payments of premiums for commercial life insurance for the military person or the military person's spouse or children. |
Possible countable resource or deduction. |
| NON-DISCRETIONARY ALLOTMENT: This is a designated amount of money that is automatically distributed from a military person's pay that may or may not be voluntary and cannot be started or stopped at the member's will. |
Possible countable resource or deduction. |
| SAVINGS BONDS: A bond issued by the U.S. Government and backed by its full faith and credit. |
Possible countable resource. |
| TRI-CARE DENTAL (TDP): A voluntary dental insurance program available to military personnel. |
Possible medical deduction. |
| U.S. DEBT: A repayment of debt to the U.S. Government. |
NO |
Note:
A list of discretionary or non-discretionary allotments can be found at https://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/military-pay-allotments.html.
| Previous Section | ||