Congress Proposes to Make Death Benefits Available to Fallen Officers

Recently the news has been inundated with reports surrounding the tensions occurring between police officers and members of their respective communities.  Less than two weeks ago, NYPD Officer Brian Moore was gunned down while on duty after stopping a man suspected of carrying a handgun.  In December 2014, two NYPD officers were killed while sitting in their cruiser.  These attacks are viewed as being unified in motivation—retribution for the high profile deaths of unarmed black men Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray.  Though nothing can be done to ease the suffering of the families who have lost their loved ones, Congress is trying to ensure that they are supported financially. 

When an officer is killed in the line of duty, there are programs that will compensate the family of the deceased.  Families can receive workers compensation benefits as well as payments made by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.  There are also various other federal and state programs offering compensatory payments; however, the tax treatment of the amounts paid are unclear.  Congress has issued a string of bills to counteract this uncertainty that would exclude all amounts paid solely as a result of a officer’s death or disability in the line of duty from income tax. 

See Tony Nitti, Congress Proposes to Make All Death Benefits Paid to Families of Fallen Police Officers Tax Free, Forbes, May 11, 2015.