[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 26, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 26CFR1.215-1]

[Page 347]
 
                       TITLE 26--INTERNAL REVENUE
 
    CHAPTER I--INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 
                               (CONTINUED)
 
PART 1_INCOME TAXES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1.215-1  Periodic alimony, etc., payments.

    (a) A deduction is allowable under section 215 with respect to 
periodic payments in the nature of, or in lieu of, alimony or an 
allowance for support actually paid by the taxpayer during his taxable 
year and required to be included in the income of the payee wife or 
former wife, as the case may be, under section 71. As to the amounts 
required to be included in the income of such wife or former wife, see 
section 71 and the regulations thereunder. For definition of husband and 
wife see section 7701(a) (17).
    (b) The deduction under section 215 is allowed only to the obligor 
spouse. It is not allowed to an estate, trust, corporation, or any other 
person who may pay the alimony obligation of such obligor spouse. The 
obligor spouse, however, is not allowed a deduction for any periodic 
payment includible under section 71 in the income of the wife or former 
wife, which payment is attributable to property transferred in discharge 
of his obligation and which, under section 71(d) or section 682, is not 
includible in his gross income.
    (c) The following examples, in which both H and W file their income 
tax returns on the basis of a calendar year, illustrate cases in which a 
deduction is or is not allowed under section 215:

    Example 1. Pursuant to the terms of a decree of divorce, H, in 1956, 
transferred securities valued at $100,000 in trust for the benefit of W, 
which fully discharged all his obligations to W. The periodic payments 
made by the trust to W are required to be included in W's income under 
section 71. Such payments are stated in section 71(d) not to be 
includible in H's income and, therefore, under section 215 are not 
deductible from his income.
    Example 2. A decree of divorce obtained by W from H incorporated a 
previous agreement of H to establish a trust, the trustees of which were 
instructed to pay W $5,000 a year for the remainder of her life. The 
court retained jurisdiction to order H to provide further payments if 
necessary for the support of W. In 1956 the trustee paid to W $4,000 
from the income of the trust and $1,000 from the corpus of the trust. 
Under the provisions of sections 71 and 682(b), W would include $5,000 
in her income for 1956. H would not include any part of the $5,000 in 
his income nor take a deduction therefor. If H had paid the $1,000 to W 
pursuant to court order rather than allowing the trustees to pay it out 
of corpus, he would have been entitled to a deduction of $1,000 under 
the provisions of section 215.

    (d) For other examples, see sections 71 and 682 and the regulations 
thereunder.