I am a single mom. My ex-husband did not pay support for his daughter for more than 5 years. He just came into some money and has recently paid almost all of his back support to me. Now I’m worried because my mom says I have to pay taxes on that money. I was hoping to use it to pay bills but I don’t want to use it if I need to save some for taxes.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
Mandy
Good for you Mandy, plus I have some good news for you. My mom used to say, “moms are always right,” but fortunately for you, that’s not the case here.
For federal purposes, child support is tax neutral, meaning that you don’t claim it as income and your ex-husband does not get to take a deduction for paying it.
Note that my answer would be different if this was back payment of alimony.
Larry Kopsa CPA
