Is tax reform the final straw for alimony?

Article here. Excerpt:

'As soon as the House of Representatives' proposed tax reform bill had hit the news, divorce lawyer Malcolm Taub's phone started to buzz.

The tax deduction for alimony was on the chopping block, eliminating the break for the spouse who pays alimony, and the tax hit for the one who receives it.

Because it is impossible to know if the provision will make it all the way through the process, or when it will be implemented, Taub said he was going to try to rush through his pending cases before the end of the year to be safe.

"This deduction is a major, major factor in negotiating a settlement, and in terms of what a judge will give. This will dramatically change the landscape," said Taub.

While alimony is getting statistically rarer, Taub said it still figures into most of the divorces he works on in his New York-based practice. Many of his cases involve long-term marriages and high-earning couples where one spouse — typically the wife — stayed at home to raise children.'

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Alimony is deductible for the payer b/c despite the fact he earned the income, he doesn't get to keep it. It goes to his ex-wife. She pays the tax because for her, it is income. Hence "INcome tax". What actually comes in to you is what gets taxed. Money men pay in alimony isn't really coming into them. In fact they never see it in most cases. It gets deducted from their paychecks via court order.

To now make men pay taxes on money which by judicial fiat is not even theirs though they earned it, the proposal seems to be to make men pay taxes on the alimony while the ex gets the entire payment tax-free. This isn't insult to injury. It's injury to injury.

Marriage should come with a huge red label: "MEN, WARNING: This contract is seriously dangerous to your well-being on multiple levels! Save yourself the grief and just take up smoking."

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