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Beware these 5 terrible tax surprises

Taxes » Tax Law » Beware These 5 Terrible Tax Surprises

Alimony received
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You survived the divorce. Now you have the IRS to deal with if you're getting alimony.

Ending a marriage is never a happy event. But at least you got a good settlement, and those regular checks from your (insert your own description here) ex-spouse are completely warranted. They also are completely taxable.

Alimony, separate maintenance payments and similar recompense from your former spouse are taxable to you in the year you receive them. Child support money, however, is not taxable. If your divorce decree calls for alimony and child support and specifies amounts for each, you only owe the IRS for the alimony payments. To avoid a big bill in April, make your IRS payments on alimony and other untaxed income via estimated tax filings.

The one good tax surprise here is for the ex who's paying spousal support. Those check amounts are tax deductible.


 

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