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 2020 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 to 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 click Federal.
2. Click Other Income in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Alimony received.
3. Enter the amount of alimony you received on the following screen (excluding child support payments and property settlements), then click Continue.
4. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.

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 click Federal.
2. Click Other Adjustments in the Federal Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, 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), then click Continue.
4. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.