The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (President Trump's tax reform passed at the end of 2018) ended the alimony tax deduction for divorce agreements starting on January 1, 2019.  For an explanation of this tax law change see our previous post:  The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 Includes a Divorce “Penalty” . In Massachusetts our alimony statute includes a formula for calculating the maximum general term alimony in a divorce case.  However, this formula was created with the intention that alimony was tax-deductible to the payor and taxable income to the recipient.  Under §53 general term alimony is capped at the recipient’s “need” or 30-35% of the difference in the parties’ gross incomes.   Since the act was passed, the courts have clarified that “need” is a relative term and must reflect the parties' marital lifestyle in addition to other mandatory considerations contained in § 53(a).  For a more in depth analysis of the statute and subsequent cases, s...

As we have previously covered here,  The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 Includes a Divorce “Penalty”  for divorces that take place after December 31, 2018 if they involve alimony.  Prior to this act, and up until December 31, 2018, alimony was tax deductible to the payor and taxable income to the recipient, which allowed for a shifting of taxable income to a lower tax bracket.  If an agreement is entered prior to the end of 2018, and this benefit is preserved, then it continues into future years, even if the amount is later modified.  This has led many couples, already in the divorce process, to consider whether they want to work on finalizing their case prior to the end of 2018 to preserve this option. Because some states, like Massachusetts, have waiting periods for finalizing a divorce, this law change raised a question: Does the deadline of December 31, 2018 apply to the divorce being finalized, or just having a written agreement completed? The answ...

Guest Post from Julie Tolek * Divorces are difficult, over all, but add to them the stress of trying to understand tax law, and the road ahead looks even darker. One bright spot in the tax laws (pre 2018) was that a tax benefit existed in cases involving alimony. Under the IRS tax rules before 2018, alimony was tax deductible the payor, while being taxable to the recipient. But this has changed under the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 . Alimony and Taxes The issue of alimony is more common in divorces where there is a significant difference in income as opposed to where the parties’ incomes are similar. Where a high income earner is paying alimony they are usually in a higher tax bracket, so the tax deductibility of the alimony can save the payor - and even the family unit as a whole - a significant amount of money. This savings is sometimes so important that parties with potential alimony payments will build all other financial aspects of the divorce around alimony, and ca...