Receiving alimony is an important part of getting divorced, especially if you need it to pay for your insurance, rent, basic necessities and other items. It’s also important that you properly report the alimony you receive on your annual tax return. Today, we will discuss how you can report alimony using a 1040 when you file your tax return in West Palm Beach.
The only way you can report alimony on your taxes is if your divorce was finalized on Dec. 31, 2018, or prior because of the new tax laws that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2019. The new laws do not allow the payer to deduct the alimony paid and does not require the recipient to claim the payments as income.
If your divorce took place prior to Dec. 31, 2018, you must do the following in order to report alimony on your tax return:
- Report the alimony as income on your tax return
- Provide your Social Security number to your former spouse
- If you pay alimony, deduct the payments from your taxable income, which reduces the amount of taxes you will have to pay the government
Alimony must meet the following requirements in order to be included on a tax return:
- Paid by money order, check or cash
- The two of you cannot live under the same roof
- Payments made after your former spouse remarries or dies cannot be counted
- Payments cannot be used for child support
It’s important that you know how to report the alimony you receive from your former spouse when you file taxes each year. This will ensure that you do not break any laws or miss out on any advantages of reporting the alimony to the IRS.
