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April 2026

The Tax/Move Window — April 2026

Two windows are open at once this month: the federal tax deadline (April 15) and the start of summer PCS season. Move on the tax filing first, then build a 90-day PCS plan if orders are inbound.

Bottom line up front. Two windows are open at once this month: the federal tax deadline (April 15) and the start of summer PCS season. Move on the tax filing first, then build a 90-day PCS plan if orders are inbound.

Tax deadline — what's actually different for military filers

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), combat-zone exclusion rules, and MSRRA all bend the standard April 15 framework, but only if you qualify and only if you claim the right boxes. Three things to verify before you file:

  • Combat-zone tax exclusion. Service in a designated combat zone excludes enlisted basic pay (and a portion of officer pay capped at the highest enlisted rate plus hostile-fire/imminent-danger pay) from gross income for the months in zone. The deadline to file is also extended — typically 180 days after you leave the zone, plus the days you had remaining when deployed. Confirm zone designation in the IRS Publication 3 (Armed Forces' Tax Guide).
  • State return for military spouses. If you elected MSRRA on your federal return last year and nothing changed (still accompanying the service member, no abandoned residency), you generally file the same way this year. If you started a new remote W-2 job, see the next section — the rules don't always follow the employer.
  • Moving expenses. Active-duty PCS moves are still deductible at the federal level even after TCJA repealed the civilian deduction. Form 3903 is still the form. State treatment varies — California, for example, doesn't conform.

If your filing situation isn't obvious — third-state remote employer, mid-year PCS, drill weekends in a different state from your home of record — drop it into Ask the Military Expert for a structured walk-through with citations.

PCS season opens — the 90-day plan

Most summer PCS orders cut between mid-March and early May. If yours are in hand, the next 90 days are decision-heavy. The big ones:

HHG vs. PPM (formerly DITY)

Household-goods moves are managed by the government — easy, but you don't profit from doing the work yourself. A personally-procured move (PPM) reimburses you up to 100% of what the government would have paid TQSE-equivalent movers, against your actual receipts and weight tickets. The decision usually comes down to:

  • How much weight you actually have. Empty weight tickets and full weight tickets at certified scales are non-negotiable.
  • Distance. Long CONUS moves favor PPM if you're light; short moves rarely justify the labor.
  • Time on either end. If your reporting window is tight, the time risk of self-moving may not be worth it.

Run the numbers in the PCS Planner before you commit. It pulls JTR per-diem rates by ZIP and computes mileage allowances against your specific origin and destination.

Where to live at the new station

Two questions, in order: on-base vs. off-base? Then which neighborhood? On-base trades BAH for predictability and shorter commutes; off-base trades the housing-office headache for choice. The Base Navigator ranks the candidate ZIPs around each duty station on rent-vs-BAH, schools, weather, and amenities — with provenance on every signal so you can see the source and freshness of each data point.

Spouse employment — start the tax conversation now

If your spouse is keeping a remote job through the move, the new state of work matters more than you'd think. Most states tax remote workers by where the work is performed, not where the employer sits — so a spouse moving from Texas (no income tax) to California while keeping a Texas employer is now generating California-source income. The Spouse Tax Wizard classifies the case (third-state, match-home, match-station) and tells you which state has a claim.

Mid-year TSP and savings check

April is a good moment to sanity-check three things:

  • Are you on track to hit (or stay under) the IRS 2026 contribution limit by year-end? If you're spreading evenly, you should be roughly 25% of your goal at end of March. The TSP Modeler projects what your balance looks like across G/F/C/S/I and Lifecycle funds.
  • If you're deployed and the SDP (Savings Deposit Program) is available, are you funding it? It's a 10% guaranteed return up to a $10,000 cap — rare in the civilian world. Mechanics are in the SDP Strategist.
  • Are you carrying excess BAH the post-2026-rate that's just sitting in checking? Even an FDIC-insured high-yield savings account beats a 0.01% checking account by orders of magnitude. Run your monthly margin in the Salary Calculator.

New on Garrison Ledger

  • The Monthly Briefing archive you're reading now is brand new — every issue lives at garrisonledger.com/briefing with full citations, structured data, and a one-click unsubscribe in every email.
  • Ask the Military Expert got an upgrade: every answer now includes a direct answer, an insider angle, proactive coverage of related issues, red flags to watch for, and exact-language next steps. Five questions a month free.
  • The Base Navigator now refreshes high-traffic bases weekly and the rest monthly, with provenance popovers showing the source and last-fetched timestamp for weather, housing, schools, and amenities.

Sources verified April 2026

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