Housing and utilities standards include mortgage or rent, property taxes, interest, insurance, maintenance, repairs, gas, electric, water, heating oil, garbage collection, residential telephone service, cell phone service, cable television, and Internet service.

Lowering a housing allowance is not necessary even in the event of a decrease in pay. The designated allowance cannot be more than 100% of salary. There can be a legitimate need to increase a housing allowance. The issue to keep in mind when amending the allowance is the fact that the allowance is never retroactive.

Basic Allowance for Housing, or BAH, provides uniformed service members equitable housing compensation based on housing costs in local civilian housing markets within the Continental United States (CONUS) when government quarters are not provided.

The housing allowance will be paid on the monthly paycheck and is subject to withholding tax. It is considered taxable compensation paid as wages.

A minister who receives a housing allowance may exclude the allowance from gross income to the extent it's used to pay expenses in providing a home. Generally, those expenses include rent, mortgage interest, utilities, and other expenses directly relating to providing a home.

However, the specific costs of moving, such as the costs of hiring movers, renting moving trucks or trailers, and traveling from a previous home to a new home, are not the kind of expenses that can be included in a housing allowance designation.

The only phone you can claim for your housing allowance expense is a land-line which is hardwired into the house.