If you are one of the many people who went through a divorce last year, you will be coping with a different tax situation as a result and may even be filing your own tax return for the first time. Here are 10 things you should know.
Your marital status at the end of the year determines how you file your tax return. If you were divorced by midnight on December 31 of the tax year, you will file separately from your former spouse. If you are the custodial parent for your children, you may qualify for the favorable head of household status. If not, you will file as a single taxpayer even if you were married for part of the tax year. TurboTax will ask you simple questions and will determine the filing status that’s best for you based on your entries.
Child support is not tax deductible to the person who pays it, and alimony paid will only be tax deductible if your divorce was already final in 2018. Likewise, the recipient of alimony must claim it on their tax return if the divorce was final by December 31, 2018, but child support isn’t reported as income.
If you rolled your support together into “family support” in your agreement, that makes it fully taxable to the recipient and deductible to the payer, just like alimony. Now the person paying alimony is no longer allowed to deduct the alimony paid, and the person receiving alimony will no longer have to claim the alimony as income if your divorce was final after December 31, 2018. Divorces final prior to 2019 are grandfathered under the old rules.
If alimony payments are concentrated in the first year or two after divorce, the IRS may consider the money to be a non-deductible property settlement.
Additionally, if alimony is scheduled to end within six months of a child’s 18th or 21st birthday, the IRS may consider the alimony, in reality, to be disguised child support.
If your divorce agreement did not specify who claims the children as dependents , then the custodial parent gets to claim them. If you have joint custody, the parent who has the child the greatest number of days during the tax year gets to claim the child as a dependent.
If you are considered single on the last day of the year (whether divorced or legally separated), you may be able to take a higher standard deduction for Head of Household than if you file claiming a single status. You can claim Head of Household if you have a qualifying dependent and provide more than half of their support. The standard deduction is $19,400 for Head of Household compared to $12,950 for single filing status for tax year 2022 and $20,800 for Head of Household and $13,850 if you file as single for tax year 2023 (the taxes you typically file in 2024).
If you are entitled to claim your children on your tax return, but your ex threatens to claim them instead, file early in the year. That way, since you’ve already claimed your children, the IRS will make your ex prove he or she was entitled to claim them.
In previous years, the Child and Dependent Care credit was not a refundable credit. But for the 2021 tax year only, the credit was refundable if you lived in the United States for more than half of the year. This means that even if you don’t owe any taxes you could get the credit in the form of a tax refund.
Also for the 2021 tax year only, the Child and Dependent Care Credit expanded the percentage and the child care expense thresholds, so you can get a credit up to 50% of $8,000 ($4,000) in child care expenses for one child under 13 (no age limit if disabled), an incapacitated spouse or parent, or another dependent so that you can work and up to 50% of $16,000 in expenses ($8,000) for families with two or more dependents.
For tax year 2022 and 2023 , the Child and Dependent Care credit has reverted to its prior limits of up to 35% of $3,000 ($1,050) for one qualifying dependent and up to 35% of $6,000 in expenses ($2,100) for two or more dependents and is refundable up to $1,400.
It’s always best to review your withholding whenever there are life changes. Update your W-4 with your employer to make sure that it reflects the most up-to-date information related to changes in your filing status, dependents, or income.
With the new changes in your life, you can get an estimate of your overall tax picture by going online with TurboTax . You don’t pay anything until you file, and in some cases you may be able to file for free. See if you qualify here .
Don’t worry about knowing tax laws. Meet with a TurboTax Full Service expert who can prepare, sign and file your taxes, so you can be 100% confident your taxes are done right. Start TurboTax Live Full Service today, in English or Spanish, and get your taxes done and off your mind.
My ex and I have been separated (not legally) and lived in separate states for 3 years now. Our divorce hearing is on 12/12/18….will I be able to file as single for tax purposes?
Janice says:Our divorce was final on 9/17/18. My ex now pays alimony of $3,500 per month. Our divorce is set up so I do not pay taxes on my alimony and he does not deduct the alimony. He was giving me $2,500 per month of non-court ordered support for years before we divorced, but we filed jointly. Do I have to pay taxes on those payments in 2018 before the divorce since we will not be filing a joint return for 2018?
Steav Smith says:Very well written article with full information. Thank you for sharing this great info. It’s nice to know and read about this stuff. I would definitely try to follow these suggestions.
Michelle says:My husband and I divorced several years ago. I now live with him and he supports me. Can he claim me as a dependent on his income taxes? I do not work, unable to find a job. He has a house and I have lived with him several years.
Please let me know ASAP.
Thank you
Hi Michelle,
If you lived with your ex-husband for the entire year, he provided over half of your support, and you did not make over $4,050 taxable income then he may be able to claim you as a dependent. TurboTax will ask him simple questions and give him the dependent exemption if he is eligible.
Thank you,
Lisa Greene-Lewis
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I filed my income tax a week before i got a divorce i clamed her and her three kids i had planned on splitting it with her. her student loans took well over half. I filed injured spouse. so i will be receiving it all back. is she intitled to any of it?
Sallie says:Which state do I file state income taxes in? The one I resided in all year or the one where the ex spouse lives. I only have alimony as my source of income.
kd says:our divorce became final in May 2014. As part of the divorce decree my husband was ordered to file the joint return taxes for 2013 by August of 2014. As of this date, April 10, 2015, he has not done that, although he did pay estimated quarterly taxes. Each of our two daughters lives with one of us- they are ages 22 and 23, each with a baby. My 2 questions are: 1) Is it allowed for me to claim my one daughter and her baby ( who are living with me and my daughter is not working) as an exemption, while he claims our other daughter and her baby? and 2) Can I file 2014 taxes individually ( as per divorce decree) without having filed anything for 2013?
stacy thompson says:nt court for separation and have to wait 12 months for divorce to be final if i file taxes with him will it interfer with my 12 months wait i live in sc
cindy says: It’s tax season and my ex wants my social insurance number do I give it wen says:If my divorce was finalized in May 2014 and I got one of the 4 properties we’ve owned since 2010.
Who can claim the state taxes on the property I got? My husband was writing the checks to pay the taxes on our properties but the funds were coming from our joint rental income or our joint HELOC loan.
My husband and I have been separated since May of 2014. He was forced out of the home by an injunction for protection. Our two sons stayed with me and I have temporary custody until litigation is over. I offered for him to still see his sons on his two days off a week. He has paid not a single penny to help support his children. He tried getting me to file jointly and agreed to give me 2/3 of the return. I filed as head of household. I am getting more back by leaving him off of the return. I claimed both of my sons since they lived with me the entire year and for the last 7 months of the year he paid no support whatsoever. He will likely owe the irs since he cannot claim the children on his own return and didn’t have any withholding with his employer. Is he entitled to any of my return?
belinda says:Hi i have a question if you could answer for me i got divorced last august with two children but we agreed as of 2014 we had stated that we would only claim one child every year two my oldest graduate from high school then when he graduated from school we would spent every other year after that with spenting my youngest can he get in trouble for this i do have documents of this so u are know. Please help.
Sue says:Hi. I have been separated f(we do not have a legal separation in our community property state) for almost two years. My divorce has taken a long time, we are still in the process (a petition on my part has begun in November and I am already getting child support since Feb 2014). Last tax season (2013), we filed for bankruptcy, and even though we’d been living apart by that point by over six months, we had to do our taxes jointly, and any refund was taken by the bankruptcy. I thought I would be divorced by the end of 2014, so I withheld at a higher rate, but my lawyer is slow. This year, I decided to file as head of household. My ex was supposed to help with child care costs as well, but about 90% of the time, he did not. I am the custodial parent and through the child support, I am able to claim them on my taxes (I make more $ anyway than my spouse). He wanted to do his own taxes badly, so I figured he must be getting something back. He knew he was not supposed to claim the kids or the daycare credit. I had the opportunity through my lawyer to see his W-2’s. He did not withhold enough, and by my estimation, will owe at least $1500 on the federal return (I do my own taxes and I am fairly good at it). I have not seen his taxes and I am sure that he will not show them to me. He claims he owes the state and the person that did his taxes, and will not be getting anything back. I know that he would be screaming bloody murder if he owed $1500 (and he is not). Even though I meet all the qualifications to use the “Head of Household,” I am worried I might be liable if he filled out his tax return in correctly. I think something is fishy. Would I be liable for his incorrect return, or if he did it wrong, will it draw attention to me for an audit? S
Mike says:My wife or soon to be ex wife filed jointly and now just got separated this week. Am I entitled to half the refund? I’m not sure how it works and to be honest I’m still dealing with the emotional part of it and want to make sure what the laws are?
karen says:My husband and i have a separation agreement and I’m going to file taxes. Our home was agreed to be mine and now he is asking what he is in tiled to on taxes for the house for the time he lived in it this year he moved out June 1 and I had the house remortgaged on Nov 30. same year what is he in tiled to in that case?
TurboTaxLisa says:Hi Karen,
That decision is up to you, but you can split things like mortgage interest and property taxes if you agree to. TurboTax will allow you to properly file your taxes if you split your deductible home expenses.
Thank you,
Lisa Greene-Lewis
Hi Lisa, I served my ex divorced papers april 2019. I believe it takes 6 months before the final divorce. Ive been a stay at home mother for 12 years and have never filed taxes. He will give me alimony and child support. I am head of household with 2 exemptions (do not know what that means) and it’s also said that I will claim my 2 children as dependent. How and when do I have to file my taxes? Do you have any advice for me? Thank you in advance!
TurboTaxKasey says:Hello Maria, The Tax Reform changes included new Alimony requirements. Divorce agreements finalized in 2019 follow new tax rules: Alimony is no longer considered taxable income and therefore is not required to be reported on your tax return.
Child Support was never considered taxable income. If you have a W-2 job or are self-employed then you may qualify to file as Head of Household on your tax return. Here is more information on those requirements. https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household Hope this helps. Thank you
I was divorced in early October 2014 in Wisconsin (community property state). I was the only income earner during the entire year. The judge said my ex and I were to split the income and taxes paid through the end of Sept. My W2 has my total income and taxes paid. I can pull payroll records to show income and taxes through Sept. How do I and my ex report my income and taxes paid off of one W2?
