If you are a recipient of spousal support, or are paying it, then taxes may be involved. Divorcing couples are often surprised that alimony and taxes are so intertwined. The truth is, the IRS considers spousal support to be income, so a recipient spouse will probably be required to report it as such on tax forms. As a recipient spouse, you will want to financially prepare to pay taxes on these payments. Also, if your spouse pays to a third parties on your behalf, this is also considered taxable income.

For example, if your ex-husband is covering your mortgage payments, you will have to consider these payments as taxable income as they are technically a financial benefit to you. If you are a stay-at-home parent, you may be able to soften the tax blow by creating a estimate tax payment which is dished out each quarter to the IRS and to your state.

If you are working, you may want to heighten the automatic tax amounts that are being withheld from your paychecks to accommodate for the spousal support. Interestingly enough, other payments such as child support or property division settlements, may not be taxable. When you are receiving these costs, you will want to talk with a local family attorney about how they will influence your taxes. A family lawyer may suggest that you bring this up with a tax attorney was well.

If you are paying spousal support to an ex-spouse, your payments may be tax deductible. You will want to talk with your lawyer to see if this is true in your situation. Those paying child support or property distributions normally won't receive tax deductions on these costs. Instead, you may be able to get a full deductible on a spousal support payment, or a partial deductible on third-party payments. This would be if you are paying your spouse's mortgage for him or her, or if you are paying for your ex's car payments.

In these situations, you may only be entitled to a half-deduction but this can still come with a benefit. You may be able to benefit from half of the mortgage interest deduction as well. You will want to look at your case today to get more information. Your divorce decree spells out your obligations. Not all payments under the divorce decree are considered alimony.

Talk with a family lawyer to learn whether or not your payments meet the certain requirements to be deductible. Sometimes a marital settlement agreement may explicitly declare which payments will be considered spousal support and which won't be. You will want to look at your finalized agreement to see if there is any information in it about this. Your tax attorney can help you to figure out a plan that helps to put money in your pocket and allow you to avoid serious taxes. Locate a skilled family attorney near you today to learn more!