Alimony: Definition, Qualifying Criteria, and Exclusions Explained

As of August 27, 2025, the United States 🇺🇸 continues to apply the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) rules to alimony: for divorce or separation instruments executed after December 31, 2018, alimony payments are not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has not announced any reversals, and tax guidance remains consistent with updates published through 2024 and early 2025.

This approach treats alimony in tax terms much like child support and has shaped how many family law settlements are drafted, as well as how former spouses plan their yearly tax filings. According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, removing the deduction removed an incentive that sometimes helped payers agree to larger alimony in exchange for a tax deduction, which changed how some couples split cash flow in a divorce.

Background and Key Change

The TCJA change was signed into law in 2017. Under that law:

• Income used to make alimony now remains taxed at the payer’s rates when applicable under older rules.
• The recipient no longer reports those payments as income for post-2018 instruments.
• For instruments executed on or before December 31, 2018, the prior rules generally still apply unless the instrument was later modified to adopt the TCJA treatment.

Congress aligned the post-2018 tax result with the Supreme Court’s 1917 decision in Gould v. Gould, treating post-2018 alimony more like child support for tax purposes.

What Qualifies as Alimony (Federal Tax Rules)

Federal tax rules draw a clear line for what counts as alimony. To qualify as alimony for federal tax purposes, payments must meet specific conditions, including:

• The payment is in cash (including checks and money orders).
• The divorce or separation instrument does not designate the payment as non-alimony.
• The spouses do not file a joint return with each other.
• The spouses are not members of the same household when the payments are made.
• There is no liability to make any payment after the recipient spouse’s death.
• The payment is not child support.

Cash paid to a third party on behalf of a former spouse can count as alimony if the divorce instrument requires it and the other rules are met. This includes payments for:

• Medical bills
• Rent and utilities
• Taxes
• Tuition
• Premiums for life insurance (if the recipient owns the policy)

The IRS treats such third-party payments as if the spouse received the cash then paid the third party. A written request from the spouse asking you to pay a third party may also permit alimony treatment if:

1. The note says both sides intend to treat the payments as alimony.
2. The payments replace direct alimony to the spouse.
3. The payer receives the written request before filing the tax return.

Items That Are Not Alimony

The IRS lists several items that do not qualify as alimony:

• Child support
• Noncash property settlements
• Payments that are the spouse’s part of community income
• Payments to maintain the payer’s property
• Use of the payer’s property

Special mortgage and property rules:

• If the payer alone owns the house, mortgage payments on that house are not alimony, even if the ex-spouse lives there.
• If the ex-spouse alone owns the house, 100% of the mortgage payments can be alimony if all other rules are met.
• If the home is jointly owned, one-half of the mortgage payments required by the divorce instrument is treated as alimony.

Treatment by Instrument Date

• For instruments executed after December 31, 2018:
  • No deduction for the payer.
  • No income for the recipient.
  • Treated like child support for tax purposes.
• For instruments executed on or before December 31, 2018:
  • Prior rules apply unless the instrument was modified after 2018 and expressly adopts the TCJA treatment.
  • Under prior rules, the payer deducts alimony and the recipient reports it as income.

If a post-2018 modification explicitly opts into the TCJA treatment, the payments switch to the new system. If the modification is silent, the old rules generally continue.

Child Support vs. Alimony

Child support is treated separately and stands apart:

• Child support is never deductible by the payer and never taxable to the recipient.
• The IRS treats payments as child support to the extent they correspond to child-related events (e.g., child reaches a specified age, marries, leaves the household, starts work, or dies).
• Example: If a decree states that “alimony” stops when the child turns 18, the IRS will treat that portion as child support.

IRS Guidance and Reporting Checklist

The IRS directs taxpayers to its plain-language explainer, IRS Topic No. 452: Alimony and Separate Maintenance, which reflects core principles found in Publication 504.

Checklist for filers:

1. Confirm the date your divorce or separation instrument was executed and whether it was modified after 2018.
2. Classify transfers as alimony or child support under the decree (remember: noncash transfers and property settlements are not alimony).
3. For post-2018 instruments: do not deduct alimony and do not include it as income.
4. For pre-2019 instruments that follow old rules:
   • Payer deducts alimony on Schedule 1 (Form 1040).
   • Recipient reports it as income on Form 1040.
5. Keep documentation: the written divorce instrument, any modifications, written requests for third-party payments, and proof of each payment (checks, money orders, or records of electronic transfers).
6. Include required identifying information for the former spouse when old rules apply.
7. Check IRS guidance before filing if your decree mixes child support and alimony, or if amounts change when a child reaches a certain age.

Important: When total paid is less than the sum required for both child support and alimony, the IRS applies amounts to child support first.

Common Areas of Confusion (Experts’ View)

Experts point to three frequent pitfalls:

• Cash-only requirement: Property transfers are not alimony. Couples who try to swap property for support may be surprised.
• Shared household rule: Living under the same roof generally blocks alimony treatment for that period, even if a decree orders support.
• Death-contingent payments: If payments continue after the recipient’s death (to an estate or heirs), they will not count as alimony.

Third-party payment handling requires attention:

• If the decree requires direct payment to a landlord, hospital, or school, those payments can be alimony if all conditions are satisfied.
• If not required by the decree, a written request from the ex-spouse may still allow alimony treatment if it is received before filing and both intend the payments to be alimony.

Mortgage-payment examples recap:

• Paying the mortgage on a home owned entirely by your former spouse — payments can be alimony (if other rules apply).
• Paying the mortgage when you alone own the house — payments are not alimony.
• Paying one-half of mortgage obligations on a jointly owned home — one-half may be treated as alimony.

Practical Advice and Compliance

• Tax software and preparers now generally sort filers by the execution date of the divorce instrument and any later modifications.
• Couples with earlier decrees should exercise caution before modifying agreements: an explicit post-2018 adoption of TCJA rules removes the payer’s deduction and eliminates the recipient’s reporting requirement.
• Clarity in the decree reduces filing headaches: label child support clearly, avoid tying alimony to a child’s status, and specify whether third-party payments replace direct alimony and whether both parties agree to treat them as alimony.

Bottom line: For post-2018 divorce instruments, alimony is not deductible and not income; for earlier instruments, the deduct-and-include system generally remains in effect unless a later modification adopts the TCJA treatment. Keeping records, checking the instrument’s dates and language, and using IRS forms and instructions are the surest ways to report correctly and avoid penalties for misreported payments.