Taxes, Alimony, and Child Support
When you are going through a divorce, some of the two largest issues that come into play are alimony and child support. It is important to know if you will be dealing with alimony and child support since the IRS decides which items in a divorce are taxed, and while child support is not usually deductible, alimony (or spousal support) is. Unfortunately, tax laws can be incredibly complicated, and when you are going through a divorce the last thing you want to worry about is the taxes involved when you are deciding on alimony and child support. Attorneys understand how stressful of a situation this can be and are here to help. Below is an article on information regarding taxes and alimony and taxes and child support. If you have any further questions or if you would like to set up an appointment, please call a law office today.
More Information on Alimony
When you and your spouse are determining the alimony amount (or when your judge determines this for you), you want to ensure you understand the tax information that goes along with it. This will depend on if you are on the paying end or the receiving end of the alimony payments. When you are paying alimony, your attorney can walk through the different benefits, including the fact that those alimony payments are tax deductible from your gross income. This is very beneficial when it comes to filing your taxes. When you are making these payments, you want to ensure:
- They are paid by a check or money order.
- They are paid while the spouses are not living together.
- The other spouse received the payments.
- Are labeled very clearly as “alimony” or “spousal support.”
It is also important to note that if you are the one paying alimony, it is possible that a court may order you to pay alimony to someone else on behalf of the dependent spouse (this could be the case for things like rent or tuition). You should also speak with your attorney to see how separating or divorcing from your spouse affects alimony payments if you still live in the same house.
More Information on Child Support
Unlike alimony, the spouse making child support payments cannot deduct these from their taxes, and the parent who is receiving the child support cannot count the child support payments toward their taxable gross income. Any dependency exemptions can be determined by the judge in your case or if you two both agree on who gets the exemption. When two parents cannot come up with a good solution that benefits both parents, a court will determine this based on the different factors of your case.
If for any reason you are having trouble making child support payments, you should speak with your attorney to see how you can modify your child support payments.
For more information on how alimony and child support payments affect taxes, please reach out to a law firm now.