J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2013: For Preparing Your 2012 Tax Return

37.5 Child Support Payments Are Not Alimony

A payment that is specifically designated as child support in the divorce or separation instrument (37.2) is not deductible by the payer or taxable as alimony to the payee.

Even if there is not a specific allocation to child support, a payment will be presumed by the IRS to be payable for child support if it is to be reduced on the happening of a contingency relating to the child, such as: the child reaches a specific age or income level, or the child leaves school, marries, leaves the parent’s household, or begins to work.

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Caution

Alimony Reductions Tied to Child’s Age

If a reduction in your payments is not specifically tied to your child’s reaching majority age but the scheduled date for the reduction is within six months before or after your child reaches age 18 or 21 (or other age of majority under local law), the IRS holds that the reduction is tied to the child’s age. The reduction amount will be treated as child support unless you can prove that the reduction is for some other purpose. The IRS makes the same presumption if you have more than one child and your alimony payments are to be reduced at least twice and each reduction is within one year of a different child’s reaching a particular age between ages 18 and 24; see the Example in 37.5.

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If a divorce or separation instrument requires ...