"am I still subject to pay taxes on support (since it was prior to 2018) OR is support no longer taxable due to my divorce and support being finalized in early 2020?"
The key word is "finalized".
The IRS says, "Certain alimony or separate maintenance payments are deductible by the payer spouse, and the recipient spouse must include it in income (taxable alimony or separate maintenance)." and "You can't deduct alimony or separate maintenance payments made under a divorce or separation agreement (1) executed after 2018". See Tax Topic 452.
The IRS also clarified to what divorce or separation agreements this new language applied:
"
This also applies to a divorce or separation agreement executed on or before Dec. 31, 2018, and modified after December 31, 2018, as long as the modification:
- changes the terms of the alimony or separate maintenance payments; and
- states that the alimony or separate maintenance payments are not deductible by the payer spouse or includable in the income of the receiving spouse.
" See this IRS webpage.
I am not sure but it appears that the terms of the alimony or separate maintenance were changed after December 31, 2018, so the updated law applies to you. Also, "finalized" and "executed" are legal terms that we here on the Community can't give advice on - when your divorce was finalized or executed is a question for your divorce attorney.
"should I have been required to pay taxes on temporary maintenance support in 2018, since my divorce was not final and the support order was modified to include child support at the end of the first quarter of 2018?"
I am presuming that your ex was allowed to deduct the temporary maintenance support in 2018; if so, then you were required to pay tax on it.
The law collects tax in one way or another. In the past, the payer deducted the payments and the recipient declared the payments as income and paid tax.
After Dec 31, 2018, because the payer no longer can deduct the payments, the payer is paying tax on the amount, and since the recipient no longer declares the payments as income, the recipient is no longer paying the tax.
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