Articles Tagged with tax

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Kirkpatrick v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2018-20, 2018 WL 1040955 (2018)

 

(a) Facts: The wife sued the husband for divorce in Maryland.  A Maryland court issued a pendente lite order, providing for temporary support.  In addition, the order required the husband to “transfer to Ms. Kirkpatrick the sum of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) directly (and in a non‑taxable transaction) into an IRA appropriately titled in Ms. Kirkpatrick’s name” and to “pay to the Plaintiff a lump sum of Forty Thousand Dollars ($40,000.00) . . . for Pendente Lite Attorney’s Fees and Suit Money.”  2018 WL 1040955, at *4.  The parties were eventually divorced.

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Barry v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2017-237, 2017 WL 5899406 (2017)

 

(a) Facts: When the parties were divorced, the husband agreed to pay the wife $2,400 per month in alimony.  Twenty-four years later, the husband filed an action against the wife in federal court for breach of contract, arguing that he had overpaid alimony and that the wife was required to return the overpayment.  The action was dismissed quickly as time-barred.

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Dear Carolyn,

I am a grandmother, and I want to help pay for the tuition for my grandchild’s day care and education at a nice day care facility.  Then, my daughter and son-in-law can work without worry.  They own their own business, and they both need to focus some quality time on the business, while maintaining my grandson as top priority.  My toddler grandson will benefit from the education and interaction with the other children at this particular day care, but it is darn expensive.  Should I give the money directly to my daughter or to the day care?  Is there a tax advantage one way or another?

           – Grandmother of the best grandchild ever…

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Dear Carolyn:

My ex and I share the children fifty-fifty.  We have three children.  I make approximately $25,000 more than the other parent.  I pay child support even though I have them half the time.  Our child support order says nothing about who gets the dependency exemptions, and I get in a fight with my ex every year over the dependency exemptions.  Who should get the three dependency exemptions?

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Dear Carolyn,

It is tax time.  I am divorced and have two children.  I pay $2000 per month in child support, and my ex (the mother) doesn’t even work.  She will not give me the dependency exemptions for the children.  The judge didn’t give them to me either.  They live with her and I visit every other weekend and half the holidays.  I am paying for the children, so why can’t I have the tax benefit?

Perturbed

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Forget it!

Forget about the alimony deduction for all new decrees or instruments post-2019. (See Part I for modification of pre-2019 alimony orders and agreement, as modification has a separate set of rules.) The deduction is gone absent a congressional miracle. That means on December 31, 2018, or before you must have alimony that qualifies under IRC Section 71 before it is repealed. The alimony must meet the terms of Section 71, pre-TCJA and pre-2019, which are as follows: Continue reading →

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Previously, we examined the paragraph and subparagraphs defining “divorce or separation instruments.” Now let’s take a look at which sections of TCJA incorporate these subparagraphs.

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

The repeal of the alimony tax sections for the inclusion of income and deduction has an ancillary impact on other divorce tax issues. The effective date for all ancillary issues discussed in this article is December 31, 2018, the same as the alimony repeal. These December 31, 2018, changes shall be referred to herein as “post-2018” changes. Continue reading →

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Carolyn Woodruff, J.D., C.P.A, C.V.A.

Divorce was hard enough, and now alimony tax reform. Do you feel good or bad about alimony? No matter your answer, this alimony tax reform revolutionizes the divorce arena, and you need to know how it may affect you and your clients. Judges need to know how it might affect those whose appear before them as litigants. So let’s dig in. Continue reading →

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Yancey v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2017-59, 2017 WL 1289451 (2017)

Facts: A husband and wife filed joint returns. The returns were prepared by the wife. The returns understated the amount of tax due, mostly because they wrongly double-counted certain gambling losses incurred by the husband.

The IRS assessed a deficiency. The wife filed a petition for innocent spouse relief, the IRS denied it, and the wife appealed to the Tax Court. Continue reading →