Proposed House tax bill would eliminate alimony tax deduction

On November 2, 2017, the House Ways and Means Committee issued H.R.1, called the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” a bill over 400 pages long, which contains provisions that will likely have a profound impact on family law practitioners, as it would eliminate the tax deductions relating to payments that some people are required to make to their ex-spouses. It would also eliminate the inclusion of such payments as income to the recipient ex-spouse. These payments, typically codified in a divorce or separation agreement and incorporated into a divorce judgment, are different than child support, are typically paid at a rate of 30%-35% of gross income and are referred to as either alimony or spousal support. While it remains to be seen what the Senate bill will provide, if the proposed legislation passes the House as written, it would apply to all divorce judgments entered after December 31, 2017. More importantly, since the avoidance or reduction of taxes is often a key element in a divorce negotiation for the higher income and/or wealthier ex-spouse, this legislation could make settlement discussions much more contentious and difficult. For example, for a person in the 33% federal tax bracket, the proposed House bill would increase the cost of their alimony or spousal support payments by nearly 50%.  So, while the goal of the House bill may have been to generally simplify income taxes, this proposed legislation could likely complicate divorces and may actually increase litigation.