Combat soldiers from Recent York’s famous “Fighting 69th” Infantry are getting taxed while deployed in Kenya, The Post has learned, since the terror-ravaged African nation will not be considered a combat zone by the Biden administration.
Military personnel are exempt from paying federal income taxes — and any Recent York state or local income taxes — throughout the time they serve in designated combat zones.
Members of the Army’s 69th Regiment were recently deployed to Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya.
Somalia — which borders Kenya — and Djibouti are designated combat zones and soldiers are exempt from taxation while serving there. But Kenya will not be considered a combat zone, despite the al-Qaeda-allied Al Shabaab terror group waging attacks against Americans there, government records show.
Al-Shabab militants launched a predawn on Jan. 5, 2020, on an airstrip utilized by the US and Kenyan militaries, situated on Kenya’s coast near its border with Somalia, killing one US service member and two American private contractors.
Tax return software firm Intuit Turbo Tax said the tax break “translates to a major tax saving for the lively service member in combat and his family back home.”
Former Staten Island congressman Max Rose, a combat veteran who served within the 69th Infantry, called it outrageous that the soldiers in Kenya get taxed while risking their lives in Kenya.
“As a former member of this unit, I sincerely hope that each certainly one of the 69th soldiers serving in harm’s way receives the tax advantages they deserve and are entitled to,” Rose said.
“We will’t let policy jargon get in the way in which of doing the fitting thing.”
A Pentagon spokesman declined comment and referred The Post’s query to its Army division, which had no immediate comment.
The Army National Guard put out a release in September announcing the deployment of 1,000 soldiers to the Horn of Africa for 10 months.
The discharge confirmed that some soldiers can be stationed in Kenya.
“Most Soldiers will likely be stationed in Djibouti, with smaller company detachments deployed to Somalia and Kenya,” the discharge said.
The operation is named Task Force Wolfhound, with the core of soldiers coming from the first Battalion, 69th Infantry, headquartered in Manhattan.
Because the Civil War, the unit has been famous as “The Fighting 69th” and served in World Wars I and II and Iraq. Irish-American immigrants formed nearly all of the infantry in its early days and were called the “Fighting Irish.”
Charlie Company from the Recent York National Guard’s 2nd Squadron, 108th Infantry in Utica, and a cavalry troop from western Recent York’s 2nd Squadron, one hundred and first Cavalry, are also a part of the duty force.
The duty force takes its name from the Irish wolfhound, the mascot of the first Battalion, 69th Infantry, highlighting the regiment’s heritage as an Irish-American unit within the Civil War.
Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general, Army, for the Recent York National Guard, said the duty force was well prepared for its mission due to additional training at upstate Fort Drum.
Combat soldiers from Recent York’s famous “Fighting 69th” Infantry are getting taxed while deployed in Kenya, The Post has learned, since the terror-ravaged African nation will not be considered a combat zone by the Biden administration.
Military personnel are exempt from paying federal income taxes — and any Recent York state or local income taxes — throughout the time they serve in designated combat zones.
Members of the Army’s 69th Regiment were recently deployed to Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya.
Somalia — which borders Kenya — and Djibouti are designated combat zones and soldiers are exempt from taxation while serving there. But Kenya will not be considered a combat zone, despite the al-Qaeda-allied Al Shabaab terror group waging attacks against Americans there, government records show.
Al-Shabab militants launched a predawn on Jan. 5, 2020, on an airstrip utilized by the US and Kenyan militaries, situated on Kenya’s coast near its border with Somalia, killing one US service member and two American private contractors.
Tax return software firm Intuit Turbo Tax said the tax break “translates to a major tax saving for the lively service member in combat and his family back home.”
Former Staten Island congressman Max Rose, a combat veteran who served within the 69th Infantry, called it outrageous that the soldiers in Kenya get taxed while risking their lives in Kenya.
“As a former member of this unit, I sincerely hope that each certainly one of the 69th soldiers serving in harm’s way receives the tax advantages they deserve and are entitled to,” Rose said.
“We will’t let policy jargon get in the way in which of doing the fitting thing.”
A Pentagon spokesman declined comment and referred The Post’s query to its Army division, which had no immediate comment.
The Army National Guard put out a release in September announcing the deployment of 1,000 soldiers to the Horn of Africa for 10 months.
The discharge confirmed that some soldiers can be stationed in Kenya.
“Most Soldiers will likely be stationed in Djibouti, with smaller company detachments deployed to Somalia and Kenya,” the discharge said.
The operation is named Task Force Wolfhound, with the core of soldiers coming from the first Battalion, 69th Infantry, headquartered in Manhattan.
Because the Civil War, the unit has been famous as “The Fighting 69th” and served in World Wars I and II and Iraq. Irish-American immigrants formed nearly all of the infantry in its early days and were called the “Fighting Irish.”
Charlie Company from the Recent York National Guard’s 2nd Squadron, 108th Infantry in Utica, and a cavalry troop from western Recent York’s 2nd Squadron, one hundred and first Cavalry, are also a part of the duty force.
The duty force takes its name from the Irish wolfhound, the mascot of the first Battalion, 69th Infantry, highlighting the regiment’s heritage as an Irish-American unit within the Civil War.
Maj. Gen. Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general, Army, for the Recent York National Guard, said the duty force was well prepared for its mission due to additional training at upstate Fort Drum.
