How do I calculate my pay and my taxes during BCT?

2021-06-05T17:57:49-04:00

Hi,
So I enlisted in the army reserves and will be going to BCT in few weeks.
My employer has a policy of paying the difference between the military pay and the civilian pay to make up for the difference during active duty orders.

While talking with HR, they basically said that I will have to submit the paystub and then they will just pay the difference and all. I think that works fine during deployment but in BCT, my understanding is that I wont have access to email,internet etc.. So wont be able to communicate with them.
So, they suggested to give them a ballpark number.
Couple of questions:
1) How do I estimate the pay difference.
2) My spouse will be visiting her parents outside of US, so will she be still included as dependent?
3) How does state taxes work? My employer is in (say) NY. I will going to BCT in Fort Sill and then to Fort Leonardwood. I will get BAH as per (guessing) NY? When the time comes for paying taxes, do I have to file taxes for Oklahoma, Missouri and NY for the time I am in BCT/AIT? I am bit confused as BAH is as per zipcode and all..

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Jun 5 at 2021 6:58 PM

2021-06-05T18:58:28-04:00

I would think the pay difference would be the difference in your gross pay. Since you list your rank as E-4, that is $2330 a month. Take your HR people a copy of the pay chart.
As for Taxes, you will pay 6.2% Social Security Tax, 1.45% Medicare Tax, and about 12% for Federal Income Tax, you will get back most of the Federal with the current standard deduction. You will pay the State Income Tax of your home of record and you will only have to file for that state.
Yes, if you are married, your wife is still your dependent whether see is living by herself or her parents. Your Basic Allowance Quarters with Dependent will be based on the Zip Code of your home of record and you will get that as long as you are on Active Duty. BAQ is an Allowance and it is not Taxed.
Since you are asking basic questions, make sure you Spouse has an ID Card and is signed up for DEERS. You should also make sure she is listed as beneficiary for you SGLI and she will need a Power of Attorney to accomplish things while you are at training. I advise a limited power of attorney that lists the items you want your spouse to be able to make decisions on in your absence, but that is up to you.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Jun 5 at 2021 9:29 PM

2021-06-05T21:29:51-04:00

Pay wise you are going to be paid based on your E-Grade. You can download a chart of the basic rate for 2021 which is roughly $2300 a month. The rest is going depend on your states income tax rate and what you claim as far as your tax forms. For your Pay Range NY lists this at 5.97 so your taxes are roughly about 30%. Your BAH is not taxed. So the amount of pay you should get each month is approximately $1610.

You do not need to estimate the pay difference, your employer can/will do that but for simplicity sake you take what you earn in a month from your employer and add that all up then subtract $1610 from it.

It will not matter if your spouse is off visiting relatives, you are still married.

You will be taxed based on your home of record, ie NY. You will get BAH and that is based on your home of record zip code. When you file taxes you file taxes for JUST NY and of course Federal.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 5 at 2021 11:59 PM

2021-06-05T23:59:21-04:00

Make sure your orders say where your family will be while you are at BCT and AIT so you get the right BAH. Some areas like New York City BAH is a lot more then up state.

Response by SFC Don Lawrence made Jun 6 at 2021 9:36 AM

2021-06-06T09:36:31-04:00

1. Most employers will require a copy of your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES). You get one every month. Send them a copy of that. As to estimating that is even easier. Google military pay tables and you will find pay charts. Just find your pay grade, Probably E-1 under 4 months, and look up how much you get paid per month in Basic Pay. The daily rate is also listed and is 1/30th the monthly rate. Tell them that daily number. You will be paid every day you are on Active Duty using a 30 day month. Your civilian job probably just pays you for 5 days a week or so assuming it is full time. Pay for an E-1 under 4 months of service is $1,650.30 or /$55.01 per day. Subtract your normal civilian full day pay from this and you have the difference. If it is a positive number, your employer will pay you. If it is negative your employer will not pay you as you are making more in the military. Only your basic pay counts for this. Do not include your BAH.
2. Your spouse will be a dependent no matter where she is located.
3. BAH is not taxable. Anywhere. If your state of legal residence taxes military pay you will pay taxes to that state, not the state you are stationed in. If you are from NY, you will pay taxes to NY and only NY. You will not have to file taxes with any other state.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2021 11:39 PM

2021-06-06T23:39:29-04:00

I had this while I was in OCS in the Guard. They paid the difference in lost pay. I asked for the company policy on this and it showed that they will use my base pay for my grade. You will have to do this. If your company says overall compensation then it is everything. If your company says just base pay then you will only use that. There isn't a set standard out there. This will vary from company to company.

Response by PO3 David Davis made Jun 8 at 2021 6:56 PM

2021-06-08T18:56:14-04:00

That is nice as a reservist. I did get payed by my employer. If I didn't work no pay.