26 Jan More about the new tax break for veterans

Q. How much active duty time is required to be eligible for the veteran tax break? Is active duty and honorable discharge required to get this deduction? Plus, are national guard veterans included in this program?
— Curious

A. Our recent story on the new tax break for veterans received a lot of follow-up questions.

Another reader said her husband served for two years during the Vietnam era, and she asked if that would qualify him.

Still another said as a veteran, he thought the article was too negative, and that there are many benefits for veterans worth discussing.

We’d like to note the story was not meant to be a comprehensive look at all benefits for veterans, but instead answered the specific reader question —that’s what we do in this space — about the new veteran tax exemption that was part of the gas tax increase in the state and how it works.

With these additional queries from our readers, we went back to Howard Hook, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant with EKS Associates in Princeton.

First, Hook thanked all our readers for their service, but then noted that even though he agrees more should be done for those who have served, “budgets need to be balanced and tax breaks given to one group of people are paid for by other groups of people.”

Those breaks for veterans are not much to ask of the rest of us to contribute to, he said.

To the questions about who qualifies for the veteran tax breaks, Hook pointed to the New Jersey Division of Taxation website. 

It said:

“The exemption is available for all veterans who received honorable discharges or who were released under honorable circumstances from active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, a reserve component thereof, or the National Guard of New Jersey in a federal active duty status”

To learn more about what federal benefits are available, visit the IRS website.

Email your questions to .

This post was first published in January 2017.