For many years the IRS allowed an alimony deduction for the obligor on their tax return. The obligor took the deduction for payments made and the obliigee included it as income for payments received. The obligee will still have to include it as income, but after 2018, the obligor will no longer be able to take those payments as a deduction.
This is because the law changed under the Tax Reform Act of 2018.
Whether or not alimony payments made will still be considered in the equation when completing a 433A (Individual Financial Statement) is still up in the air and we will know next year if the form is revised to show the tax law change. Currently, alimony payments are court ordered payments under page 4, line 42 of the 433a. These payments are considered as part of your monthly household expenses and the IRS allows it to determine your ability to pay your tax balances. My guess is that if the deduction goes away, so will the credit for the payment for collection purposes. It remains to be seen…
For more information on alimony as it relates to the IRS, see https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc452.