Tax consequences of alimony in the United States
According to Section 71 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code， alimony must be included in the recipient s gross income and can be excluded from the payer s gross income. To qualify as alimony the payments must meet the following five conditions：
The payment is a cash payment；
The payment is received by a“divorce or separation instrument”；
The instrument does not specify that the payments are not for alimony；
The payer and payee are notmembers of the same household when thepayments are made；
There is no liability to make the payments for any period after the death or remarriage of the recipient.
These requirements apply whether the parties enter an agreement that is approved in an order of the court （ contractual alimony） or the court orders alimony after a contested trial （ statutory alimony） .
A divorce or separation instrument is defined as a decree of divorce or separate maintenance or a written instrument incident to such a decree， a written separation agreement， or a decree requiring a spouse to make payments for the support or maintenance of the other spouse.
Child support must be included in the payer s gross income and can be excluded from the recipient s gross income. Child support payments are payments that are allocated to the support of the minor children of the pair. If the amount of the alimony payments would be reduced in the eventof the age， death， or marriageof the child， this contingent amount would be considered child support.
Section 215 of the Internal Revenue Code allows the alimony payer to take a tax deduction for any alimony or separate maintenance paid during the year. The payer s deduction is tied to the recipient s inclusion of alimony.
Together Sections 71 and 215 act as an income splitting device. Because of this， collaborative divorce processes such as mediation may allow special tax-saving alimony planning opportunities.
alimony /lim ni/n. [律]（离婚或分居后在诉讼期间男方给女方的）赡养费，生活费
premise /pri maiz/n.[逻] [法]前提
indissoluble / indi s ljubl /adj.不能分解的
dissolution / dis ljun/n.分解，解散
pendente lite /pen denti laiti /n.<；；拉>；； [律]诉讼中
litigation / liti gein/n.诉讼，起诉
testimony / testim ni/n.证词（尤指在法庭所作的） ，宣言，陈述
ongoing / n g ui /adj.正在进行的
guardian / g di n/n.保护人，监护人
arrears / ri z/n.到期未付款，欠账
decree /di kri /n.法令，政令，教令，判决
contingent /k n tindnt/adj.附随的，暂时的
mediation / mi di ein/n.仲裁，调停，调解
spousalsupport配偶赡养费
i nvol untary servi tude强制劳役
EqualProtecti on Cl ause平等保护条款
deduct from扣除
chi l d support子女抚养
contem pt of court藐视法庭
gross i ncom e总收入，总收益
i ncom e spl i tti ng收入辟分；分摊收入
1. Thirteenth Amendment （《第十三条修正案》） ： The Thirteenth Amendment to the nited States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery， and with imited exceptions， such as those convicted of a crime， prohibits involuntary servitude. It was adopted on December 6， 1865.
2. nvoluntary servitude （强制劳役） ： Involuntary servitude is a United States legal and onstitutional termfor a person laboring against thatperson s will to benefit another， under some form of coercion. While laboring to benefit another occurs in the condition of slavery， involuntary servitude does not necessarily connote the complete lack of freedom experienced in chattel slavery； involuntary servitude may also refer to other forms of unfree labor. Involuntary servitude is not dependent upon compensation or its amount.
3.qual Protection Clause （平等保护条款） ： The Equal Protection Clause， part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution， provides that：“no state shall . .. deny to any person within its jurisdiction theequal protection of thelaws.”The Equal Protection Clause can be seen as an attempt to secure the promise of the United States professed commitment to the proposition that“all men are created equal”by empowering the judiciary to enforce that principle against the states.
4. Fourteenth Amendment （《第十四条修正案》） ： The Fourteenth Am endm ent to the nited States Constitution is one of the Post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments， first ntended to secure the rights of former slaves. It includes the Due Process and Equal rotection Clause， among others. It was proposed on June13， 1866， and was ratified on July 9， 1868.
5. ollection agency （托收代理） ： A collection agency is a business that pursues payments on debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed. Some agencies， sometimes referred to as“debt buyers”， purchase debts from creditors for a fraction of the value of the debt and pursue the debtor for the full balance. Creditors typically send debts to a collection agency in order to remove them from their accounts receivable records； the difference between the amount collected and the full value of the debt is then written off as a loss.
6. ontempt of court （藐视法庭） ： Contempt of court is a court ruling which， in the ontext of a court trial or hearing， deems an individual as having been disrespectful of the court， its process， and its invested powers. Often stated simply as“in contempt”， or a person“held in contempt”， it is the highest remedy of a judge to impose sanctions on an individual for acts which excessively or in a wanton manner disrupt the normal process of a court hearing.
