Is alimony taxable after 2018?

The rule in one paragraph

Publication 504 opens its alimony discussion with the post-2018 rule. Amounts paid as alimony or separate maintenance under a divorce or separation instrument executed after 2018 are not deductible by the payer, and they are not includible in the recipient’s income. The same result applies to a pre-2019 instrument that is modified after 2018, but only if the modification expressly states that alimony is not deductible to the payer or includible in the recipient’s income. Everything turns on the instrument’s date and on whether a later change expressly opted in, not on when a given payment was made.

What counts as a divorce or separation instrument

The publication defines the term three ways: a decree of divorce or separate maintenance, or a written instrument incident to that decree; a written separation agreement; or a decree or any court order requiring a spouse to make payments for the support or maintenance of the other spouse, including a temporary, interlocutory or alimony pendente lite order. A payment that is only voluntary, with no instrument behind it, is not alimony at all. The word “spouse” includes a former spouse unless the text says otherwise.

The older rule that still applies

If you entered into the divorce or separation agreement on or before December 31, 2018, and have not since changed it to expressly provide that alimony received is not included in your former spouse’s income, the older treatment continues. The publication says alimony is deductible by the payer and the recipient must include it in income. The payer reports it on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 19a, writing the recipient’s Social Security number or ITIN on line 19b and the month and year of the original agreement on line 19c. The recipient reports it on Schedule 1, line 2a, with the agreement’s month and year on line 2b. Leaving out the recipient’s number can cost a $50 penalty and the deduction itself, and a recipient who refuses to give a number can face the same $50 penalty.

How a modification changes the answer

The publication gives four examples, and each is worth reading because the line between old and new is easy to misjudge. In its first, a 2016 decree is modified in May 2025 to raise the monthly payment, but the modification does not say the post-2018 rules apply, so every 2025 payment stays deductible and taxable. In the second, the same modification expressly adopts the post-2018 rules, so payments from January through May 2025 stay deductible and taxable while payments from June through December are neither. In the third, a 2016 separation agreement ends when a divorce decree is signed in May 2025 on the same terms, and because the decree was executed after 2018 the payments made under it are neither deductible nor included. In the fourth, a 2018 separation agreement survives as an independent contract that the 2025 decree does not mention, so 2025 payments remain deductible and taxable because they are made under the 2018 agreement.

Worked example

A couple signed their divorce decree in June 2017. In March 2025 the court modified it and the order expressly said the post-2018 alimony rules apply. The payer paid $1,500 a month. For January and February the payments are still governed by the old rule, so $3,000 is deductible by the payer and included by the recipient. For March through December, ten payments of $1,500 add up to $15,000, and that amount is neither deductible nor income. Enter $3,000 before and $15,000 after with both boxes ticked above to see the split. Untick the modification box and all $18,000 counts; untick the pre-2019 box and none of it does.

Not every payment is alimony

Even for an older instrument, the publication keeps several things out of alimony: child support, noncash property settlements, a spouse’s part of community income, payments to keep up the payer’s own property, and use of the payer’s property. It also adds that alimony continues only if payments stop at the recipient’s death and the spouses do not file a joint return, among other tests. Where both child support and alimony are due and the payer pays less than the total, payments go first to child support. See the child support page for that ordering and the alimony deduction page for the recapture rule.

Other places alimony shows up

Taxable alimony under a pre-2019 instrument counts as compensation for IRA contribution and deduction limits, which is why a recipient may still be able to fund a traditional IRA from it. The publication notes this applies only to instruments executed on or before December 31, 2018, that have not been modified to exclude such amounts. A recipient of taxable alimony may also need to make estimated tax payments because no tax is withheld; the quarterly estimated tax calculator can help plan those.

Sources

• IRS Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals (2025): the Alimony introduction, Deducting alimony paid, Reporting alimony received and Certain Rules for Instruments Executed or Modified After 2018 (Examples 1 to 4). Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 504 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.