Child Support, an Unrecognized Burden on the Man
Written by divorce3 on May 10, 2008 – 3:51 pm -Granted, we know, that Child Support is necessary in most divorces where minor children are involved, but not being able to deduct it on taxes is completely absurd! If you pay your spouse, let’s say $700 a month in child support, that amount is coming out of your NET pay (i.e. after you have paid taxes on it). Your ex-wife pays no taxes on this extra income to her, so it is more like she is getting an extra “salary” of $1000 per month. Put another way, you paying her the $700 monthly is like her having a part time job making $12,000 (taxed) yearly, in which she does nothing and doesn’t even have to show up for work! (and yes people….the ex-wife is NOT using all of her Child Support for the kids in many cases, some of it is going for her personal expenses). If the IRS doesn’t want to tax the ex-wife (out of pity), then the man should at least be able to deduct Child Support off of his taxes. To the man, Child Support is a direct reduction to his net spendable income. So, using our example, he is short $700 in cash monthly, which could be two car payments! This is especially a huge burden for already indebted men paying the maximum Child Support, who make only a middle class income, or worse. It is especially inequitable when the ex-wife has full custody of the kids and gets the tax deduction for them each year. As well, if she has daycare expenses she is allowed to deduct those off of her taxes, yet the ex-husband cannot deduct his Child Support expenses. Absurd.
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