FPPFederal Pay Parity

BAH, BAS, and federal tax treatment

Military Compensation Tax Advantage

For the model's 2026 O-3 profile, annual basic pay is $92,844, BAH is $28,332, and BAS is $3,942. The $32,274 in modeled nontaxable allowances produces a $9,103 federal tax advantage at the selected 22% rate, yielding a $134,221 taxable-salary equivalent.

ActualForecastAssumptionInterpretation

Last reviewed August 22, 2026

What the numbers show

  • Cash compensation and taxable-salary equivalent are separate selectable bases.
  • The tax calculation is a federal-income-tax model, not personal tax advice.
  • BAH varies by location, pay grade, and dependent status; the model uses Ogden/Hill AFB with dependents.

2026 O-3 compensation bridge

O-3 over six years; Hill AFB with dependents.
ComponentAnnual valueTax treatment in model
Basic pay$92,844Taxable
BAH$28,332Modeled nontaxable
Officer BAS$3,942Modeled nontaxable
Cash compensation$125,118Sum of pay and allowances
Federal tax advantage$9,10322% model rate
Taxable-salary equivalent$134,221Cash plus tax advantage

Formula

tax advantage = nontaxable allowances × tax rate ÷ (1 − tax rate)

taxable-salary equivalent = cash compensation + tax advantage

Assumption: The shown example uses a 22% federal rate. It does not calculate state tax, deductions, credits, filing status, or an individual's marginal rate.

Official component sources

Basic pay is sourced from DFAS, housing from the DTMO BAH lookup, and subsistence from DFAS BAS tables.

See what the gap means for your comparison.

Use the Compensation Gap Explorer, review the methodology, or download the underlying data and workbook.