No. If the retirement distribution comes in your name, on your Form 1099-R instead of your ex-spouse and there is nothing in the divorce decree assigning the money to them it must be reported on your tax return. It cannot be a decision on your part to call it alimony. Again, the divorce decree is the legal document to reference.
For questions about what may or may not be alimony and whether it is currently deductible use the link below.
No. If the retirement distribution comes in your name, on your Form 1099-R instead of your ex-spouse and there is nothing in the divorce decree assigning the money to them it must be reported on your tax return. It cannot be a decision on your part to call it alimony. Again, the divorce decree is the legal document to reference.
For questions about what may or may not be alimony and whether it is currently deductible use the link below.
My 2013 divorce decree gives a % of my retirement pension to my ex-wife every month. It goes directly to her bank account and I never touch it, so to speak. The court order does not specifically call this disbursement to her as alimony. It just divides my pension and she gets her % and I get my %. If the court did not specifically call the money she receives each month "alimony", then am I not allowed to deduct the amount she gets, on my Federal Tax return as alimony?