Do terminal leave pay you BAH even if you are not married?

2021-08-29T14:30:14-04:00

I'm a single soldier livining in barracks.
I got 2 questions,

1.)I heard from my peers saying that if you take terminal leave, Army pays you BAH as well.
Do Single soldiers taking terminal leave also get BAH as well?

2.) Which aftertax and everything, pays more? Terminal leave vs. Selling leave

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 29 at 2021 3:06 PM

2021-08-29T15:06:37-04:00

1. you get BAH at the no dependents rate from the day you clear barracks to your ETS date.

2. taking terminal leave pays you Base, BAS and BAH. And only your Base is taxed. But you now have more expenses, not living in the barracks.
Selling your terminal leave pays you the Base only, minus tax, but you also have less expenses.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Aug 29 at 2021 3:07 PM

2021-08-29T15:07:45-04:00

If you were not married and have not dependents, no you do not get BAH for terminal leave.

Your peer is an idiot barracks lawyer. Do NOT listen to them.

Terminal leave will pay you more. You are getting paid for X number of days. If you have have 3 months that is 6 paychecks. Getting it all lump sum ie selling it would likely boost you into a higher tax bracket.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 29 at 2021 5:00 PM

2021-08-29T17:00:04-04:00

This may help from DFAS: https://militarypay.defense.gov/Benefits/Leave-Benefits-During-Transition/

It's not long but it talks about separation and leave.

From what I'm gathering from what I am finding in a search is if you are already entitled to BAH or BAS now, you'll get BAH or BAS while you are on transition leave. I can't find anything that says everyone gets BAH or BAS on terminal leave, even those E5 and under with no dependents. The AR only says how to either sell back leave or take terminal leave.

Leave Benefits During Transition

Military Pay and Benefits Website sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 30 at 2021 3:08 AM

2021-08-30T03:08:27-04:00

I wouldn’t sell your leave. I did and they taxed it pretty good, and it was only my base pay. AS A SPC it probably won’t be that much. It also depends how many days you have too. You will get a full months of base pay for every 30 days of leave you have. If you have less they will pro rate you. And you can only sell up to 60 days as well.

Response by SSG Dale London made Aug 30 at 2021 7:02 AM

2021-08-30T07:02:06-04:00

If you didn't rate BAH before you won't now.
As for selling leave versus taking it, remember that even if you sell your leave you won't get the check until your last "official" day of duty -- the date printed on your DD214. I got stung with that. I sold back some of my leave thinking I would get the money I needed to fly home. (which was not, by then, my home of record).
As you can imagine, getting home was... and "adventure."

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Aug 30 at 2021 9:28 AM

2021-08-30T09:28:57-04:00

SPC Private RallyPoint Member If it hasn't changed since I retired, everyone gets BAH while on leave. Don't sell your leave unless you have to many days accrued. If you sell it, all you get is the money for the leave days. If you take Terminal you will get BAH and BAS.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Aug 30 at 2021 11:29 AM

2021-08-30T11:29:34-04:00

Here's my tax advice from a person not officially qualified to give such advice.
"Pay" is taxable. That includes your base pay and any additional incentive pay you might receive.
"Allowances" are usually not taxable.

If you are on terminal leave, you receive full pay and allowances. Based on the rules above, the pay in taxable and the Army will withhold income tax for the US and State as appropriate. Based on your current LES, do the math. You should be able to determine how much your take-home will be for the number of days you'll be on terminal leave. Others in this string have addressed receiving housing allowance while on terminal leave. Check with your finance office.

If you sell back your leave, you do so at the base pay rate. Because it's pay, the money you get is taxable. You don't get your allowances for leave days you sell back. Your finance office can tell you the withholding rate they will apply to the leave days' pay. Again, do the math. Number of leave days sold, times the base pay, less the tax withholding equals your take home.

In general, terminal leave is financially better. Coordinate terminal leave well in advance with your chain of command.

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Aug 30 at 2021 5:56 PM

2021-08-30T17:56:02-04:00

If you rate BAH you get BAH when you go on terminal. If you have questions about terminal go to the admin folks that process it because what your peers are telling you sounds like some barracks rumor BS.

Response by CPL Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 17 at 2022 4:48 PM

2022-07-17T16:48:33-04:00

Don’t sell your leave days they are highly taxed. Take terminal leave you get BAH. That’s after you clear the barracks you’ll take the paperwork to finance at DHRS. You’ll get BAH your next pay check. If you’re not sure check with transition.