Are any of your clients planning to get divorced? They should get the paperwork started sooner rather than later if they intend to preserve the tax deduction for alimony payments under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
Previously, divorced taxpayers were entitled to write of the full cost of qualified alimony payments above the line on a federal return. On the flip side, alimony recipients had to report the payments as taxable income. But child support payments, as well as most other payments pursuant to a divorce, were neither tax-deductible nor taxable.
