David Thomas: “This particular provision is called the Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act of 2003, and a couple of examples, I think, will…”

“This particular provision is called the Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act of 2003, and a couple of examples, I think, will make it quite obvious as to why it is the tax fairness part of the title that we should focus on. As we now know for some years now, you have been able to exclude the capital gain on a home if you lived in that home as your principal residence for 24 months out of a 5-year period. Of course, we all know that the military as to where they live is subject to the exigencies of the world and the need for military personnel to be dispersed sometimes literally around the world. I think it is entirely appropriate to examine this kind of a piece of legislation in the context of where we are vis-a-vis the President's decision to perhaps move militarily against Iraq. So what this says is that if, in fact, you are not able to meet that 24-months-out-of-5-year period for exclusion from the capital gains, and the reason you are not able to is because you have been transferred away from home on official extended duty during that 5-year period, you would be exempt from that regulation.”