Divorced person cannot deduct $600,000 in property settlement as alimony

The IRS correctly disallowed the deduction of $600,000 in payments a divorced man made to his ex-wife because the amounts counted toward obligations other than alimony, the U.S. Tax Court said Wednesday.

Joseph Martino Jr. asked the tax court to allow his deductions of $300,000 each for the 2017 and 2018 tax years because he paid his ex-wife $25,000 a month. But the manner in which a former spouse makes a payment is not determinative or relevant to the payment's classification as a support deduction under now-repealed IRC Section 71(b)(1)(B), said Judge Albert G. Lauber.

• Martino was originally obliged by divorce decree to…