Federal Tax Exemption for Line-of-Duty Death Annuities
Now all survivors who receive an annuity on account of the death of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty can exclude these benefits from gross income on their tax returns.
In June 2001, President Bush signed the Fallen Hero Survivor Benefits Act of 2001. This law amended the IRS code to exempt pensions or annuity payments on public safety death benefits.
The 2001 law, P.L. 107-15, corrected an inequity in the tax code that had covered only survivors whose loved one died after December 31, 1996. It extended the benefit to include survivors whose loved one died on or before December 31, 1996. However, only amounts received after December 31, 2001 qualify for exemption.
Survivors whose loved one died in the line of duty after December 31, 1996, received this exemption under P.L. 105-34.
Public Safety Officers’ Benefits
A unique effort of the U.S. Department of Justice; local, state, tribal, and federal public safety agencies; and national organizations, the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Programs provide death and education benefits to survivors of fallen firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other first responders, and disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty. The PSOB Office at the Bureau of Justice Assistance is honored to review the nearly 700 claims submitted each year on behalf of America’s fallen and catastrophically disabled public safety heroes and their loved ones. Visit www.psob.gov for details regarding PSOB’s death, disability, and educational assistance programs.
