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Neither the agreement nor the divorce decree specifies whether
petitioner’s obligation to make such payments would terminate
upon his former wife’s death.
In 2004 petitioner made “spousal support” payments totaling
$6,000 to his former wife for which he claimed an alimony
deduction on his Federal income tax return for that year.
Respondent disallowed the claimed alimony deduction in the notice
of deficiency.
Discussion2
Petitioner contends that because he always made timely
support payments to his former wife in compliance with his
agreement and the district court’s judgment, he is entitled to
his claimed alimony deduction. To the contrary, respondent
contends that petitioner’s payments do not qualify as alimony
under the Internal Revenue Code.
Section 71(a) provides the general rule that alimony
payments are included in the gross income of the payee spouse.
Section 215(a) provides the complementary general rule that
alimony payments are deductible by the payor spouse in “an amount
equal to the alimony or separate maintenance payments paid during
such individual’s taxable year.”
2The issue for decision is essentially legal. Therefore, we
decide it without regard to the burden of proof.
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Last modified: March 27, 2008