Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act

H.R. 808, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, aims to eliminate a requirement known as the "widow’s tax," which reduces the benefits paid to surviving spouses of deceased military members. Under previous law, if a spouse received Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs, their Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity from the Department of Defense was reduced by that same amount. This bill would repeal that offset, allowing surviving spouses to receive the full amount of both benefit payments concurrently. Additionally, the bill includes provisions for the government to recoup certain previous refunds paid to beneficiaries to account for the transition to full payments.