United States Department of the Treasury

Significant Discrepancies Exist Between Alimony Deductions Claimed by Payers and Income Reported by Recipients United States Department of the Treasury

Alimony is a payment to or for a spouse or former spouse under a divorce or separation instrument. Individuals who pay alimony can deduct the amount paid from income on their tax return to reduce the amount of tax they must pay. Conversely, individuals who receive alimony must claim the amount received as income on their tax return. More than 1.7 million tax returns included an alimony deduction claim in Tax Years 2008 through 2010. Of those, approximately 1.2 million tax returns (71 percent) were filed electronically (e-filed) and 520,000 tax returns (31 percent) were filed on paper. Figure 1 provides details of the total number of individuals claiming an alimony deduction and the amount claimed for Tax Years 2008 through 2010.