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support, $471 per month for spousal support, and an additional
$25 per month for child care expenses. The March 1999 order
contained instructions (the instructions) to the payor limiting
the amount that could be garnished to 50 percent of petitioner’s
“disposable earnings”.2 The instructions stated that “If 50
percent of the Obligor’s net disposable earnings will not pay in
full all of the assignments for support, prorate it first among
all the support assignments in the same proportion that each
assignment bears to the total current support owed.” However,
the instructions further stated that “When this Order is for
child support or family support, it has top priority over a
similar order for spousal support.” The March 1999 order was in
effect and had not been modified by or during 2002.
On the basis of the March 1999 order, approximately $441 was
withheld from petitioner’s military retirement account3 and paid
directly to his former spouse. Petitioner made no other payments
to his former spouse during 2002. On his 2002 tax return,
petitioner deducted as alimony $5,301 paid to his former spouse
and claimed the section 32 earned income credit.
2According to the instructions, disposable earnings means
earnings remaining after subtracting items required to be
withheld by Federal and State law, for example: Federal income
tax, Social Security tax, and State income tax.
3Petitioner retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2000. The
actual amount garnished varied slightly from month to month based
on cost of living increases.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011