The IRS does not allow you to make any deductions for legal fees during divorce proceedings. With that out of the way, let’s go into the tax deductions which you can claim when you get a divorce. This is a highly complex issue, so when in doubt call a professional to help.
Alimony
You may not be able to deduct the legal fees from divorce proceedings, but you can deduct legal fees used to collect alimony. Nevertheless, the key is what can be deducted must always be specifically designed for alimony. In addition, you must have proof of alimony based fees.
Tax Advice
Tax research into things like property transfers in the event of a divorce can be deducted from your taxes. Tax research tends to take the form of asking a legal professional to review your latest tax situation when you convert from being someone’s spouse to being single again.
Allocation of Fees
Do remember to ask your attorney to bill for tax and non-tax services. This is essential because if the IRS decides to audit you, you will have to show paper evidence of your deductions. Failure to do so could mean paying a hefty chunk of money back to the IRS later.
Child Support and Alimony
Child support is not deductible on the tax return of the person who paid it. On the other hand, alimony is. Make sure you split off these two transactions. Avoid rolling them into “family support” because then everything will become taxable.
Conclusion
It is wise to call a tax professional if you struggle with any of these deductions. These things require you to file in a specific way.
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