Читать книгу J.K. Lasser's 1001 Deductions and Tax Breaks 2022 - Barbara Weltman - Страница 94

There are 4 conditions that must be met for payments made under a pre‐2019 divorce decree or separation agreement to a spouse or former spouse to be considered alimony:

1 Amounts must be paid pursuant to a legal requirement, such as a court decree.

2 Payments must be made in cash.

3 You must live apart from your spouse or former spouse.

4 Your responsibility to make payments must terminate on the death of your spouse or former spouse.

Typically, alimony that is deductible by the payer is taxable to the recipient—the government effectively nets no additional tax revenue from the arrangement. But this symmetry is not required. If you meet all of the conditions, you can deduct your alimony payments even if your former spouse is not required to pay tax on them (for example, your former spouse lives abroad where alimony is exempt income).