Alimony is a payment to or for a spouse or former spouse under a divorce or separation instrument. It does not include voluntary payments that are not made under a divorce or separation instrument.

Alimony is deductible by the payer, and the recipient must include it in income. Although this discussion generally is written for the payer of the alimony, the recipient also can use the information to determine whether an amount received is alimony.

Note. Amounts paid as alimony or separate maintenance payments under a divorce or separation agreement executed after 2018 won't be deductible by the payer. Such amounts also won't be includible in the income of the recipient. 

For more information on these requirements, please refer of IRS Publication 504 Divorced or Separated Individuals.

To enter alimony received

1. From within your TaxAct® return (Online or Desktop) click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then choose Federal.
2. Click Other Income  in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu in the middle of the screen to expand the section, then click Alimony received
3. Enter the amount of alimony you received on the following screen (excluding child support payments and property settlements)

To enter alimony paid

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop) click Federal. On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then choose Federal.
2. Click Other Adjustments in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand the section, then click Alimony paid
3. Enter the amount you paid and the recipient's SSN on the following screen (excluding child support payments and property settlements)