How to Fill Out and Submit DA Form 5960: Blocks, Deadline, and IPPS-A

DA Form 5960 is the document a Soldier files to start, stop, or change Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) whenever a life event changes where they live or who qualifies as a dependent. Marriage, divorce, a new child, a PCS move, moving into or out of government quarters, and the annual recertification all require it. Most Soldiers now complete the form inside the Integrated Personnel and Pay System–Army (IPPS-A), though a fillable PDF remains available from the Army Publishing Directorate.¹ Getting it right the first time matters: errors delay pay, and unreported changes create overpayment debts that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service will collect from later paychecks.

When You Need to File

Any change that affects your housing or dependency status triggers a new form. The common triggers:

Getting married or adding a child, which moves you from the without-dependents rate to the with-dependents rate. BAH distinguishes only between having dependents and not having them; a second or third child does not increase the amount.
Divorce, legal separation, or the death of your only qualifying dependent, which drops you back to the lower rate.
Moving off post into private housing, which starts your allowance.
Moving into government quarters, which stops it.
A PCS move, because BAH is tied to the zip code of your duty station (or your dependents’ location).
Annual recertification during your records review, certified by your company-level commander.

Deployed Soldiers are exempt from the 60-day documentation deadline while overseas but must comply after returning from post-deployment leave.

Where to Get the Form

The current edition is dated January 2022 and is available as a fillable PDF from the Army Publishing Directorate at armypubs.army.mil.¹ Most Soldiers generate it digitally through IPPS-A instead. The system pulls your personal data, dependents, and duty station automatically, which cuts down on transcription errors.

Filling Out the 16 Blocks

Paper or digital, the same fields have to be completed. The form has 16 numbered blocks.

Blocks 1–6: Identity and Action Requested

Block 1 is your name as it appears in your personnel file. Block 2 is the type of action: Start, Stop, Change, Cancel, Correct, Recertification, or Report. Use Start to initiate a new allowance, Change to modify an existing one (for example, switching to with-dependents after a marriage), and Recertification to confirm your status has not changed.

Block 3 holds the effective dates in YYYYMMDD format. Use the actual date of the qualifying event, because those dates drive prorated calculations. Block 4 is your pay grade and Social Security number; the form will not process without the SSN. Block 5 is your duty location, and Block 6 is your full residential address, including zip code. The zip code in Block 6 directly affects how much you receive.

Block 7: Marital and Dependency Status

Select Single, Married, Divorced, or Legally Separated. If none of those fits, the form directs you to prepare a DD Form 137 to establish dependency.

Block 8: Dependents

List each dependent’s relationship, full name, and date of birth. For a spouse or former spouse, include their SSN. If a child is in someone else’s custody, note that here along with any child support details. In IPPS-A, you can add up to ten dependents using the additional lookup fields.²

Blocks 9–10: Quarters and Housing Details

Block 9 asks whether government quarters are adequate, inadequate, or not available. If you mark inadequate in IPPS-A, enter the inadequacy percentage. Block 10 captures your landlord’s name and address, lease dates, number of sharers, and either your monthly rent or your mortgage payment (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance). Homeowners use the fair rental value field.

Block 11: BAH Type

Choose With Dependents, Without Dependents, Partial, or Transient.³ The with-dependents rate is the same whether you have one dependent or four.⁴ Transient applies to Soldiers returning from overseas locations where no prior BAH rate existed.

Block 12: Location Election

If your dependents live somewhere other than your duty station, choose which zip code sets your rate: your permanent duty station, your dependents’ location, or both. This is most relevant on unaccompanied tours or when family stays behind during a PCS.

Blocks 13–16: Signatures

Block 13 is your signature date and Block 16 is your signature. Blocks 14 and 15 are for the certifying officer, typically your company-level commander or the first commissioned officer in your chain of command.⁵ By signing, you certify that you provide (or are willing to provide) adequate support for your listed dependents and that you will notify the finance office of any future changes.

Supporting Documents and the 60-Day Deadline

The form alone is not enough. You have 60 days from the date of your BAH action to upload qualifying documents into iPERMS, or your rate will be reduced to the without-dependents amount until you comply.⁶ HR professionals should include the Soldier’s SSN on all supporting documents and type “AUDIT” in the container field when uploading.

What you need depends on the change:

New spouse: certified marriage certificate.
New child: birth certificate or certificate of live birth.
Divorce or legal separation: court-issued divorce decree or separation order, plus any child support agreements.
Secondary dependents (parents, incapacitated adult children, wards): an approval letter from DFAS or your company-level commander. Secondary dependency requires proof that you provide more than half of the dependent’s living expenses.⁷

The form warns that nondisclosure of required information can result in nonpayment of BAH. If you cannot locate a document inside the 60-day window, ask your S-1 about an extension rather than letting the deadline pass.

Submitting Through IPPS-A

Most BAH certifications route through IPPS-A rather than paper.² The workflow:

Log into IPPS-A Self-Service and select the Pay-Absence-Incent-Ded (PAID) tile.
In the Selection Criteria section, choose Housing from the Entry Type dropdown, then select Add.
On the Housing screen, select BAH as the Housing Category. Set the begin date and end date (the end date is one year from the begin date).
Select your Quarter Type (with or without dependents) and Housing Type (off-post, government quarters, etc.).
Confirm the BAH With Dependent Agreement if applicable. Select your primary residence and duty location from the lookup fields.
Choose the postal code your rate is based on. Add your spouse and any additional dependents from the lookup dropdowns.
Select Submit. The request routes to your unit’s S-1 pool.

If the primary residence lookup returns no results, add your home address first: Self-Service Homepage, then My Soldier Data, then Personal Details. Return to the Housing request afterward.

The S-1 transmits the certification to the Army Military Pay Office (AMPO), which enters the data into the pay system. Once approved, the documentation is automatically sent to iPERMS from IPPS-A.⁵ One caveat worth knowing: the IPPS-A BAH Recertification feature only recertifies existing entitlements. Any actual change to your BAH compensation still has to go through the local finance office.

Situations That Change the Answer

Dual-Military Couples

When both spouses are active-duty, neither counts as a dependent of the other. Both receive the without-dependents rate for their respective rank and duty station. If the couple has children, only one member (usually the higher-ranking) receives the with-dependents rate; the other stays at the without-dependents rate no matter how many children they have. You cannot split children between two BAH claims. If the couple is stationed at different locations and dependents reside at each location, each member may be authorized the with-dependents rate based on where the dependents actually live. When a dual-military couple lives in government housing, no BAH is payable unless a special circumstance applies, such as a dependent parent who cannot reside on post.

Reserve and National Guard Activation

Members called to active duty for more than 30 days receive full locality-based BAH at the same rates as active-duty Soldiers. Those on orders for 30 days or fewer receive BAH Reserve Component/Transit (BAH RC/T), a flat non-locality rate.⁸ The form process is the same: DA Form 5960, supporting documents, commander certification.

BAH Differential for Child Support

Soldiers living in government quarters who pay court-ordered child support for dependents not living with them can receive BAH Differential. To claim it, mark With Dependents on Block 11 and include your child support documentation.

Secondary Dependents

If you financially support a parent, an incapacitated adult child, or a ward of the court and provide more than half of their living expenses, you may be able to claim them as secondary dependents.⁷ This requires a separate DFAS application. Once approved, upload the approval letter to iPERMS alongside your DA Form 5960.

After You Submit

Processing timelines vary by installation, but allow several weeks between submission and seeing the change on your pay. Check your Leave and Earnings Statement each month to confirm the BAH amount matches what you expect for your rank, location, and dependency status. The DoD’s BAH calculator at militarypay.defense.gov lets you verify the rate for any zip code and pay grade.

If the amount is wrong, or BAH does not appear after a reasonable period, raise it with your S-1 first; they can track where the request stalled in IPPS-A. For issues the S-1 cannot resolve, contact your installation’s Army Military Pay Office directly. Catching a discrepancy early is much easier than unwinding months of incorrect payments.

Penalties for False or Missing Information

The form carries a bold warning: making a false statement or claim against the U.S. government is punishable by courts-martial, with a maximum fine of $10,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.³ Under UCMJ Article 107, signing a false official document knowing it to be false can be punished as a court-martial may direct, including reduction in rank, forfeiture of pay, and confinement.⁹

In practice, the more common problem is not fraud but neglecting to update the form after a divorce or separation. That creates an overpayment, and DFAS treats overpayments as debts. If a debt is not resolved within 60 days of the notification letter, DFAS can report it to credit bureaus, refer it to collection agencies, offset your salary, or route it through the Treasury Offset Program.¹⁰ Filing the form promptly whenever your status changes is the simplest way to avoid all of it.

1
Army Publishing Directorate. DA Form 5960 Product Details
2
Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army. BAH Initial Certification Instructions
3
U.S. Army. DA Form 5960 – Authorization to Start, Stop, or Change Basic Allowance for Quarters
4
Defense Travel Management Office. Basic Allowance for Housing
5
The Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army. IPPS-A Update: BAH Recertification, Switchover/Switchback Exercise, TM SUBCATs, Revocation/Promotion PARs, Absence Attachments, Clearance Data, PayPer Mismatch Report and Resources
6
The United States Army. Army to Implement 60-Day Window for Soldiers to Provide Supporting Documents for BAH Rates
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Secondary Dependency – General Information
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MyArmyBenefits. Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) – Army Reserve
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 907 – Art 107 False Official Statements; False Swearing
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Defense Finance and Accounting Service. Defense Finance and Accounting Service – Failure to Pay a Debt