The Tennessee Department of Revenue announced a tax deadline extension to members of the U.S. armed forces and members of Reserve or National Guard units called into active military service of the United States serving in a designated combat zone or receiving combat compensation. The deadline for filing Hall income tax and professional privilege tax is automatically extended for these designated troops.

A combat zone is defined as any area the president of the United States designates by executive order as an area in which the U.S. armed forces are engaging or have engaged in combat.

The return and payment for both the Hall income tax and the professional privilege tax will be due 90 days following the conclusion of hostilities in which troops are engaged outside the United States or 90 days after they are transferred from the theater of operations of the combat zone. Penalties and interest will not be charged during the extension period.

“Extending the deadline for filing Hall income tax and professional privilege tax for U.S. troops serving in a combat zone is one way we can provide state tax relief to troops serving our country overseas,” said Department of Revenue Commissioner Loren L. Chumley.

If troops are covered by these relief provisions because of serving in a designated combat zone, they should write in black ink at the top of their state return the appropriate combat zone designation in which they have served -- for example, "Iraqi Freedom" for the Iraq combat zone or "Enduring Freedom" for the Afghanistan combat zone, etc. Troops must include a statement with the return when it is filed indicating the dates they were in the combat zone and include a sample paycheck stub showing receipt of combat compensation.

If troops receive a notice from the Department of Revenue regarding a collection or examination matter, they should return the notice to the department with the appropriate combat zone designation written at the top of the notice and on the envelope so that any action can be suspended.

If there are questions, call any of our HELP NUMBERS:

Chattanooga (423) 634-6266 Knoxville (865) 594-6100 Jackson (731) 423-5747 Memphis (901) 213-1400 Johnson City (423) 854-5321 Nashville (615) 253-0600

Tennessee residents outside the Nashville calling area may call our statewide toll-free number at (800) 342-1003. Callers from Nashville or out-of-state may call (615) 253-0600. For more information, interested parties may also visit the department’s Web site by logging onto www.Tennessee.gov and linking to the Department of Revenue’s site.

The Department of Revenue collects approximately 92 percent of total state tax revenue. During the 2001-2002 fiscal year, the department collected $7.4 billion in state taxes and fees. In addition to collecting state taxes, more than $1.4 billion dollars of local sales tax was collected by the department for local governments during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. In addition to collecting taxes, the department enforces the revenue laws fairly and impartially in an effort to encourage voluntary taxpayer compliance. The department also apportions revenue collections for distribution to the various state funds and local units of government.