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11049: 1040 - Alimony Paid or Received


1040 Individual

Where do I enter alimony in Drake Tax?

Starting in Drake19:

Per the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, divorces finalized after December 31, 2018 will not have the provision to allow the payer to deduct alimony payments from their income tax. In turn, the recipient will not have a requirement to claim alimony as part of their taxable income. This will not affect:

  • Divorces finalized on or before December 31, 2018. 
  • Payments stated to be other than alimony.

Any divorce agreements in place on or before December 31, 2018 will continue unaffected by this change, unless both parties agree to modify their divorce agreement to conform to the new amendments of the tax law. 

Alimony Received

Alimony received is entered on screen 3, line (2a in the bottom section in Drake19). Be sure to enter the date of divorce (EF message 5060) as well as the amount. 

  • If filing form 1040-NR, alimony received is entered on the Foreign tab > NR2 screen > Line 12

Alimony Paid

Alimony paid is entered on screen 4, line 19 (18 in Drake20 and line 18a Drake19). Be sure to enter the date of divorce (EF message 5345) as well as the amount. 

  • Note: The recipient's social security number must be entered to avoid EF message 5043. 

States 

If the divorce or separation agreement did occur after December 31, 2018, and a state requires the alimony amount to be reported, enter it in the prescribed field (listed above). The amounts entered are ignored by the federal return, but will flow to the state return.


Drake18 and prior

For divorces finalized prior to December 31, 2018, alimony received is reported as income and alimony paid can be taken as an adjustment to income. Per Publication 504, page 12:

"Alimony is a payment to or for a spouse or former spouse under a divorce or separation instrument. It does not include voluntary payments that aren't made under a divorce or separation instrument.

Alimony is deductible by the payer, and the recipient must include it in income...

To be alimony, a payment must meet certain requirements. There are some differences between the requirements that apply to payments under instruments executed after 1984 and to payments under instruments executed before 1985."

Alimony Received

Alimony received is entered on screen 3, line 11. This flows to Form 1040, Schedule 1, line 11 (Form 1040, line 11 in Drake17 and prior).

  • If filing form 1040-NR, alimony received is entered on the Foreign tab > NR2 screen > line 12

Alimony Paid

Alimony paid is entered on screen 4, line 31 and flows to Form 1040, Schedule 1, line 31a (Form 1040, line 31 in Drake17 and prior)

  • Note: The recipient's social security number must be entered to avoid EF message 5043.

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