Carlos Samaniego

Field Note

The IRS treats military families differently

Carlos Samaniego · October 7, 2026 · 2 min read

If you served, or you're married to someone who did, this one's for you.

 

Military families are trained to handle hard things. Deployments. A move every few years. Holding the house together while someone is gone.

 

Nobody trains you for the IRS.

 

And the tax code treats military families differently than everyone else. Sometimes in your favor. Most families never find out.

 

So I sat down with someone who has lived both sides of it.

 

My son, Andrew Samaniego.

 

Naval Academy graduate. Surface warfare officer. Enrolled Agent. His wife still serves. He just wrote Hold The Line: The Military Family's Field Manual for Lowering Your Taxes and Defeating the IRS. 

 

Here's what we covered on Tax Debt Live:

 

  • Why your VA disability is not taxable, but still counts against you when you owe the IRS

  • The one kind of income the IRS can take straight out of your military paycheck

  • Why the state you're stationed in may not be able to tax your military pay, but can tax your Uber income

  • The state choices military spouses now have, and the catch that comes with picking one

  • What happens if you're in a combat zone when taxes are due

  • What those "IRS Fresh Start program" ads are really selling you

[WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE] 

 

Now here's the part I really want you to hear.

 

Andrew works on our team at Tax Debt Consultants. He reviews cases. He works financials.

He's on the calls with the IRS.

 

And he's here to serve our military and our veterans.

 

If you wore the uniform, or you're the one who held the house together while someone else did, you get someone across the table who has been there.

 

But it starts with a conversation with us.

 

Here's why that matters. When you owe, the IRS can levy your military base pay. Penalties and interest keep stacking every month the letter sits in the drawer. Waiting doesn't freeze the problem. It feeds it.

 

Book your appointment at CallTaxEA.com or call the office at 909-570-1103.

 

We'll figure out where you stand. Then we bring the right person to the table.

 

To your survival,

 

Carlos Samaniego, EA
Tax Debt Consultants

 

P.S. If you know a veteran or military spouse with an IRS letter they keep moving from the counter to the drawer, forward this to them. That envelope doesn't get smaller.

  • Newsletter

Field Notes from Carlos

Stories worth passing along.

Taxes. Business. Books. Travel. Dogs. People. Places. Mistakes. Lessons.