Calling Divorce Payments Alimony ‘Defies Common Sense,’ IRS Says

A divorcee’s attempts to call some of the payments in his separation agreement alimony in order to qualify for a tax deduction “conflicts with the law and defies common sense,” the IRS told a federal appeals court Monday.

In a brief filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the government rebuffed Joseph Martino Jr.'s legal arguments behind his appeal of an IRS refusal to allow him to deduct as a net operating loss some of the payments he has made under the modified settlement, including attorney’s fees and life insurance payments.

These payments are explicitly part ...