Alimony (also know as spousal maintenance) and tax consequences in 2019
In 2018 and in prior years, anyone paying alimony (spousal maintenance) in New York was able to deduct the payments from their income for tax filing purposes and the spouse receiving payments was supposed to claim them as income.
Starting in 2019, the federal tax laws have been revised to remove the tax deduction for alimony (spousal maintenance) payments. However, from my experience at Court, we can actually calculate what someone what have paid (but more importantly saved on their taxes) and we now deduct from 2019 payments to make them lower.
So, in essence there is a similar result since the tax savings are directly applied to the alimony (spousal maintenance) payments.
Spousal Maintenance in New York is based on a formula from the New York Statutes. Here is an article about describing it in more detail. Click HERE.
Below is the calculation:
There are two formulas to determine the amount of the obligation. If you and your spouse have no children, the higher formula will apply. If there are children of the marriage, the lower formula will apply, but only if the maintenance payor is paying child support to the other spouse who has the children as the custodial parent. Otherwise the higher formula will apply.
Lower Formula
1-Multiply Maintenance Payor’s Income by 20% .
2- Multiply Maintenance Payee’s Income by 25% .
Subtract Line 2 from Line 1: = Result 1
Subtract Maintenance Payee’s Income from 40 % of Combined Income* = Result 2.
Enter the lower of Result 2 or Result 1, but if less than or equal to zero, enter zero.
THIS IS THE CALCULATED GUIDELINE AMOUNT OF MAINTENANCE WITH THE LOWER FORMULA
Higher Formula
1-Multiply Maintenance Payor’s Income by 30%
2- Multiply Maintenance Payee’s Income by 20%
Subtract Line 2 from Line 1= Result 1
Subtract Maintenance Payee’s Income from 40 % of Combined Income*= Result 2
Enter the lower of Result 2 or Result 1, but if less than or equal to zero, enter zero
THIS IS THE CALCULATED GUIDELINE AMOUNT OF MAINTENANCE WITH THE HIGHER FORMULA
*Combined Income equals Maintenance Payor’s Income up to $184,000 plus Maintenance Payee’s Income
Note: The Court will determine how long maintenance will be paid in accordance with the statute. (Rev. 1/31/18)
New York Divorce Law is complicated so you should meet with an experienced divorce lawyer - even if you think your divorce will be easy or straightforward. The Underwood Law Firm is one of the few firms in the Syracuse area that offers free consultations on Divorce & Family Law so that everyone has an opportunity to speak with an experienced attorney about their case.
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*Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
