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Claiming alimony payments on your tax return

On Behalf of | Dec 14, 2021 | Blog, Divorce

Many Texas divorce cases involve alimony payments. Often, these payments are made from one spouse to the other because of a significant discrepancy in income post divorce. Alimony may be temporary, rehabilitative or permanent. Whatever the case may be, any alimony payments that you are making to your ex-spouse are tax deductible.

File Form 1099 this tax season

If you have made any alimony payments to your ex-spouse this year, you should claim all of those payments on your tax form. However, you must also remember to notify your ex-spouse, since they will be required to claim the alimony they received as income on their tax return.

A lot of divorced spouses who are receiving alimony payments don’t realize that they must claim the income on their tax return. That’s why you should request Form 1099 from the IRS and then mail it to your ex-spouse before you file your tax return. This form lets your ex-spouse know that you are claiming alimony on your taxes and they need to report the alimony that they have received from you.

Deduct child support from calculations

Child support payments are different than alimony in that they are not tax deductible. If you are making both alimony and child support payments to your ex-spouse, remember to deduct the child support from what you report on your tax return.

Other things to keep in mind

Some divorced spouses pay alimony to their ex-spouse voluntarily as part of a casual agreement. This kind of alimony is not tax deductible, as you can only write off court ordered alimony. Another thing that is important to keep in mind is that you will need to have your ex-spouse’s Social Security number in order to claim alimony. If your alimony records are false or you don’t have your spouse’s Social Security number, the IRS may deny your tax deduction and fine you.

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