Basic Allowance for Subsistence Gets Record Increase in Upcoming Year

Jim Absher is a Military.com benefits columnist.

Service members will see their Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) increase by more than 11% in the upcoming year. The 2023 rates were posted on the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s (DFAS) website on Dec. 5, 2022.

In 2023, the monthly BAS payment will be $311.68 for officers, up from $280.29; while enlisted members will see their BAS increase from $406.98 to $452.56.

BAS is a tax-free entitlement designed to offset the cost of a military member's meals when dining at their permanent duty station. Although BAS is meant to offset the cost of a member's meals, it doesn't cover the costs of meals for family members.

The increase, the largest in more than a decade, comes as military members also are seeing a projected record 4.6% basic pay increase, and unprecedented midyear increases in the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) due to global inflation.

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Every January, the BAS amount is updated to reflect the percentage increase in the monthly cost of a "liberal food plan" for a male in the United States who is between 20 and 50 years of age during the preceding fiscal year, as determined by the secretary of agriculture each Oct. 1, according to federal law.

Service members should see the increase reflected in their January 2023 mid-month payment.

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