@Rlee6195 wrote:
That’s what I’m finding.
I just want to make sure I understand: If an individual marries another person who has back child support owed…the entire tax return can be garnished to pay the single persons child support debt..regardless of the new spouses responsibility..then the new spouse can reclaim that loss of income the following year (or a portion of it because they filed jointly) and have it returned back to them the following year.
With that, a new spouse who is paying a spouses child support on their behalf due to temporary circumstances cannot deduct it? Maybe it’s not a deduction but rather considered a loss when filing? I don’t know I just want to ensure I understand
They are two different things. Child support is never a tax deduction, that's the end of it.
If a person owes back child support, the state CPS can apply to the IRS to offset (confiscate) all or part of the taxpayer's tax refund to pay the back support. This is not a tax or additional tax, this should be viewed the same from a financial point of view as if the taxpayer got their refund and signed it over to the other parent.
Then, if the taxpayer is remarried and files a joint return with their new spouse, the IRS can offset the entire refund for child support, if that is how much the debt is. This means part of the new spouse's refund can be taken for the other spouse's old debt, because normally, spouses who file jointly are treated as "one taxpayer" and the joint return signifies that both spouses accept joint responsibility for the tax return. The offset of the new spouse's portion of a tax refund can be prevented by filing separate returns (married filing separately), although this usually results in more tax being owed because some deductions and credits are reduced or disallowed. As an alternative, the spouses can file a joint return and include an injured spouse form (or file the injured spouse form later). This is a request to the IRS to consider whether part of the joint refund should be assigned to the spouse who does not have a debt. It's important in this context to realize that normally, when you file a joint return, both spouses accept equal liability for all income and taxes, and that the injured spouse form can only be used for debts that occurred before the new marriage. If your spouse has debts that occurred during the new marriage when you were filing joint returns, the injured spouse form will not be honored (because you accept joint responsibility when you file jointly).
It seems that you are suggesting you would pay less money overall if you stopped making the child support payments and then used the injured spouse form to protect your refund from confiscation. That might be true, but it would also mean your spouse has a long term debt that keeps growing, and that you and your spouse are depriving your stepchild/your spouse's child of important financial support that has been ordered by a court. Morally you are doing the right thing; when you married, you knew this would be something you would have to deal with until the child turns 18, at least.
In any case, all preaching aside, there is no tax deduction for paying child support that you or your spouse owes, even though there is a procedure that can sometimes protect part of your refund from your spouse's debts.
