Deadbeat Hunter Answers Questions about Child Support and Taxes

Q: Is the amount of child support affected if we file our taxes jointly?

Deadbeat Hunter says: No, it will not affect your taxes at all presuming that you did not report the child support as income. It will not affect your child support order.  Your child support can only be changed by court order.

Q: Do I need to pay taxes on received child support?

Deadbeat Hunter Says:  Child Support is not considered to be income even though you can report it as such in certain situations to boost your reported earnings.   It is not taxable.  Alimony on the other hand is taxable income which is why I always encourage my clients to strategize, strategize, and strategize!  If you are at the beginning of the process and expect to receive both alimony and child support, it may be better to receive the lions share in child support because you don’t have to report it is not taxable.  On the other hand you have more resources on your side to enforce a child support order than to go after a deadbeat for alimony payments because there is a legal structure within the Family Law system for one but not the other.  Which means that the direction you choose may have a lot to do with your opponent and how much chasing you are possibly facing.  That being said, the paying spouse will probably want to pay out more in alimony and less in child support because alimony can be deducted.