Divorce in the News-Alimony and Tax Deductions

The Headline The Republican Tax Plan Imposes a New Divorce Penalty

As I understand it, a new tax law is about to be introduced.  As it stands now, and in my case, my Ex gets to claim his alimony as a tax deduction.  That never seemed fair to me.  I have to pay taxes on the alimony I receive, and he gets a benefit for paying alimony.  Wait a minute there is something wrong here!  My husband leaves me thus taking away my security, breaking a multitude of promises to God and me, damaging my family, and then he is rewarded for this breach of contract with a very nice tax break.  This is a miscarriage of justice in my opinion.  If this proposed law goes through it will go into effect at the end of this year and will include future alimony rulings.  The past judgments for alimony payments will not be included, and the slackers of the past can skip away with their high tax deductions.  Whoever said life was fair?

There is concern that this could affect the alimony payout amounts.  The worry is that the courts would consider the amount to be paid out along with the taxes that are no longer deductible thus decreasing the payout amount to protect the payor.  Well, that is not fair either.  The one who created the problem needs to pay out what he owes the one he or she has harmed.  I don’t think anyone worried that I would be paying taxes on the monies I would receive.  I don’t remember taxes on alimony ever mentioned in any of our legal proceedings.

So what is my hope with this new law, if it passes?  I hope the ones who cause damage to others do not continue to be rewarded for their behavior with huge tax breaks.  I hope the ones that have been lied to and harmed through the breach of marital contract get the money they deserve.  I wish that the government would not grandfather anyone in, but as my mom used to say “if wishes were horses beggars would ride.”
I would love to know your thoughts on this.
KathieyV