After taking divorce, there might be significant changes in the tax filing by individuals. The court orders one of the couples to pay alimony, spousal, and child support. In this case, the supporting spouse may doubt whether child support payments made are tax-deductible, and the receiving spouse also has a doubt if the payments can be treated as income.
What Is Child Support?
During the process of divorce, the non-custodial parent is ordered to support their children financially. Even though the child support payments are determined after the dissolution of marriage, the main requirements for requesting payments are the establishment of paternity and maternity. The courts of Maryland have set specific guidelines for the calculation of child support.
Maryland Child Support Guidelines
The Maryland General Assembly passed a law in 1990 to establish the State’s First set of Child Support Guidelines. The Child Support Guidelines’ use is mandatory if the parties’ combined gross incomes are less than Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00) per month. If the combined income increases by $15,000, the court may use its discretion to set an appropriate child support amount.
The following criteria are taken into consideration.
- Number of Children
- The number of days children spend with their parents.
- Gross income of each parent
- Which parent is paying for the health insurance
- The parent who is paying for the extraordinary medical expenses of children
- All the other expenses of children like school fees, transportation, etc.
Are Child Support Payments Tax Deductible In Maryland?
If you are a parent making child support payments, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) states that it is impossible to include those payments as income when you file your taxes. The tax rule is the same for federal income tax or Maryland Income tax.
According to IRS, child support is never considered as income and is never deductible under income tax. In some cases, a spouse is required to pay both alimony and child support. If the supporting parent pays less than the amount to be paid, then the amount is first applied to child support, and the remaining amount is taken as alimony.
Questions About Child Support Or Alimony?
If you are considering divorce and have questions about alimony or child support, you need to contact an experienced men’s divorce attorney in Maryland. Alice Pare has more experience in resolving child support issues. Contact us for a free initial consultation.