Walter B. Jones: “H.R. 418 is a bill that would permit military families who receive the death gratuity to invest the full amount into…”

“H.R. 418 is a bill that would permit military families who receive the death gratuity to invest the full amount into certain tax-favored accounts. As you may know, a death gratuity is a $100,000 payment paid to survivors of servicemembers whose death resulted from combat-related circumstances. Current tax law limits the amount that recipients of the death gratuity can place in tax-preferred accounts, such as a Roth IRA or a Coverdell Educational Savings Account. This legislation would change that to allow recipients to contribute up to the full amount of the gratuity payment to any of those two accounts. As the families of our fallen heroes try to put their lives back together, they need help. The death of a loved one is difficult enough, without having to worry about saving the death gratuity to pay for retirement, college or other expenses and then have the government come in and tax the interest on that savings.”