Why are my deductible alimony payments not changing my bottom line tax?

[DoninGA]

Assuming that your divorce was official prior to tax year 2019, the alimony paid would be entered on the 2018 tax return as an Adjustment to income on Schedule 1 Line 31a.  The totals from Schedule 1 Line 36 are subtracted from your Total Income reported on Form 1040 Line 6 and entered on Form 1040 Line 7 as Adjusted gross income.

Your tax liability is based on your Adjusted Gross Income not your Total Income after subtracting the Standard or Itemized Deduction from the AGI.

[Cts5678]

Looks like I found a bug in the TT Deluxe 2019

It tells me I'm not eligible to deduct alimony related to a 2013 divorce.

A user in the TT 2019 online version says the online version has a yes/no question as to whether the alimony was modified after 2018, but the TT 2019 Deluxe does not ask me that question....

Aha!

The non-free download TT 2019 (V2019.41.8.190) doesn't pose "...the question that asks if the decree was modified after 2018" .

All it has is name of recipient, amount, recipient ssn and date of divorce or separation.

There's the bug.

Thanks for letting me know.

[DoninGA]

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@Cts5678  wrote:

Looks like I found a bug in the TT Deluxe 2019

It tells me I'm not eligible to deduct alimony related to a 2013 divorce.

A user in the TT 2019 online version says the online version has a yes/no question as to whether the alimony was modified after 2018, but the TT 2019 Deluxe does not ask me that question....

Aha!

The non-free download TT 2019 (V2019.41.8.190) doesn't pose "...the question that asks if the decree was modified after 2018" .

All it has is name of recipient, amount, recipient ssn and date of divorce or separation.

There's the bug.

Thanks for letting me know.

The following screen after entering the alimony paid, asks that specific question in the Download editions -