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By Rick Maze
Army Times staff writer

After two years, Congress is still trying to amend tax laws to allow money earned in a combat zone to be invested in Individual Retirement Accounts.

For the second time, the House is passing HR 1499, called the Heroes Earned Retirement Opportunities Act, lifting an Internal Revenue Service rule prohibiting tax-free money from being put into a tax-deferred retirement savings account.

The House passed similar legislation on May 23, 2005, but the Senate took until November to approve the bill and then made changes that would have prevented service members from making retroactive contributions. That was a key facet of the House bill.

The House has revised the bill, setting the effective date of implementation back to calendar year 2004, and is passing the measure again in hopes he Senate will approve the changes. The retroactive effective date is intended to make sure no one is hurt by the detail in reaching agreement, congressional aides said.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., is the bill’s chief sponsor. She introduced the bill in April 2005 after hearing complaints that money earned in combat could not be put into a tax-deferred IRA.

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