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Committee hears bill to clarify head-of-household exemption, raise disabled-veteran exemption
Summary
House Bill 2231 would clarify Kansas law allowing an additional personal exemption for head-of-household filers and increase an exemption for certain 100% disabled veterans from $2,250 to $2,320. The Department of Revenue said the change mostly clarifies existing practice; advocates asked for language tweaks to cover medically retired service
The Kansas Assessment and Taxation Committee heard testimony on House Bill 2231 on Feb. 20, a measure that would clarify an existing additional personal exemption for head-of-household filers and increase the dollar amount of an exemption for certain 100% disabled veterans.
Amelia, a legislative staff member from the Revisor's office, told the committee the bill would allow an additional Kansas exemption of $2,320 for head-of-household filers beginning with tax year 2024 and would increase the additional exemption for certain disabled veterans from $2,250 to $2,320 beginning in tax year 2025. She noted the bill passed the House Feb. 26 on a 117-0 vote.
Secretary of Revenue (Secretary) testified that the Department of Revenue proposed the clarification because the additional exemption for head-of-household filers has been treated as allowable for decades but the statutory language had become unclear after legislative changes in 1998. “This just merely clarifies that that is in fact the Kansas law,” the Secretary said, adding that the change is fiscal-neutral because the exemption has been applied historically and software vendors seek clarity to code returns consistently.
Mike Kelly, president of the Military Officers Association of America Kansas Council of Chapters, urged the committee to align the bill's language with last year’s House Bill 2760. Kelly said Kansas law should recognize federal disability determinations made under both title 38 (VA determinations) and title 10, section 1216 (medical retirement determinations) so that medically retired service members qualify without needing an additional state determination. He asked the committee to adjust the statutory language to match the existing statutory treatment in House Bill 2760.
Committee members asked whether the head-of-household provision would be applied retroactively to tax year 2024; staff said taxpayers who already filed 2024 returns would need to file an amended return to claim the clarified exemption for that year.
The hearing record shows no committee vote during the session; the bill awaits further committee action.
