Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) has introduced legislation to make military enlistment and reenlistment bonuses immune from taxation.
Simply and aptly named the No Tax on Military Bonuses Act, Rep. Mast's bill exempts all military pay bonuses tax-free. This expansion of the current system, which taxes service members at a marginal rate, means bonus taxes are not levied on troops currently deployed in combat zones.
"Military service members raise their right hands to defend our country, and in return, they deserve to keep every cent of the bonus they earn," said Rep. Mast in his press release, adding, "This bill removes the unfair tax burden that has long affected military bonuses and keeps hard-earned money in the pockets of our soldiers, sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardians."
Mast is not the first Florida Congressman seeking to ensure our nation's military receives the monetary compensation it deserves, as his colleague, Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), has sought to get his highly popular Major Richard Star Act, which Mast has cosponsored, signed into law.
Rep. Bilirakis's bill would rectify a common practice. Every dollar combat-injured veterans receive as disability pay is a dollar taken from retirement pay they would receive later, which he called an "unfair offset."
"They're losing a portion of their pension, either a portion of their pension, they don't get the full 100% or a portion of their VA disability," Rep. Bilirakis told The Floridian last May, adding, "They have to choose one or the other, whichever one they take, and that's bullsh*t. These people sacrificed so much; we're giving all this money to illegal aliens, and our veterans are being cheated out of that."
The No Tax on Military Bonuses Act is Mast's second piece of tax-related legislation in 2025, following the No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act introduced in mid-February.
That bill would disallow the business expense deduction for the reimbursement of employee costs of travel to obtain an abortion or child gender transition procedures, of which Mast said, "The days of woke corporations using your tax dollars to finance a far-left agenda are over. Too many companies have proven to be completely out of touch with American values. This bill says 'enough is enough,' and protects children across the country."
