Can Child Support Be Claimed as Income?
- Child support refers to a regular payment that a parent makes when he or she is no longer living in the same home as the child and the other parent. Generally, the parent who is serving as the primary caregiver receives child support from the non-custodial parent, but parents do not need an official custody order to file for child support. Local and family courts expect recipients to use child support for the child’s benefit only, not as an extra source of income.
- For purposes of an income tax return, “gross income” refers to all the money a taxpayer receives during the tax year. This can include wages, salaries, net earnings from self-employment, retirement account distributions, state income tax refunds and alimony, among others.
- According to the IRS, child support is not a form of taxable income. This means that a taxpayer who receives it does not include it as part of his or her gross income on a tax return. Taxpayers who pay child support cannot deduct their payments as a legitimate expense either.
- Since taxpayers cannot claim their child support payments as income or an expense, child support has no impact on the federal income tax return. Neither parents who receive support nor parents who pay support receive tax deductions or credits for those payments.
