What amount can I claim or report?

Answer a few questions to find out if the support payments received or paid are taxable to the recipient and deductible by the payer.

Depending on the date your court order or written agreement was made, support payments made or received for a child or spouse or common-law partner that meet the conditions outlined in What are support payments? may be taxable and deductible. The rules that apply to your situation depend on whether the order or agreement was made:

• before May 1997; or
• after April 1997.

Tax rules for court orders or written agreements made before May 1997

Support payments for a child or spouse or common-law partner, under a court order or written agreement made before May 1997, are taxable to the recipient and deductible by the payer unless one of the following four situations applies to you.

1. Changes to amount of child support payments

If a court order or written agreement made before May 1997 is modified after April 1997 to change the amount of child support payable to the recipient, the tax rules in effect after April 1997 apply. This means that these payments are no longer taxable or deductible beginning on the date of the modification, which is the date that the payer pays the revised amount to the recipient for the first time.

Note
Automatic changes in the amount of support, based on cost-of-living increase or changes in the payer's income, that have been provided for in the order or agreement are not included in this rule. To find out the cost-of-living, visit the Statistics Canada Web site. If you live in Quebec, visit the Institut de la statistique du Québec Web site.

2. A new court order or written agreement with the same person

If you have a court order or written agreement made before May 1997 that remains valid and a new order or agreement with the same person was made after April 1997, and the result of this new order or agreement is to change the total amount of child support payable to the recipient, the tax rules in effect after April 1997 apply for support payable or receivable under both orders and agreements as of the commencement day of the new order or agreement.

3. The court order or written agreement specifies that payments will not be taxable or deductible

A court order or written agreement may specify that child support payments made after a certain date (not earlier than May 1, 1997) will no longer be taxable and deductible.

4. Election for child support payments

If you have a court order or written agreement dated earlier than May 1997, you can elect to have the tax rules in effect after April 1997 apply to you without having to change the order or agreement.

The payer and the recipient must both agree to make the election. Both parties must complete and sign Form T1157, Election for Child Support Payments, and send it to us.

Once the election has been accepted, the order or agreement is subject to the tax rules that apply after April 1997. The election cannot be revoked.

Note
A separate form must be completed for each order or agreement.

If any of the above situations apply, support payments made or received under that order or agreement will be subject to the tax rules in effect for orders and agreements made after April 1997.

Tax rules for court orders or written agreements made after April 1997

Generally, payments made for the maintenance of a child under a court order or written agreement made after April 1997 (or before May 1997 if any of the four situations mentioned above apply) are not deductible by the payer and do not have to be included in income by the recipient. Spousal support payments continue to be deductible to the payer and must be included in the recipient's income. The following explanations provide more information about these rules.

Note
For an order or agreement made after April 1997, automatic changes in the amount of support may occur in accordance with the federal, provincial or territorial child support guidelines. For more information, visit the Department of Justice Web Site.

Child support payments

Under court orders and written agreements made after April 1997, any support amount that is not identified in the order or agreement as being solely for the support of the recipient is considered to be child support. These amounts are not deductible by the payer and do not have to be included in income by the recipient.

Support payments for the maintenance of the recipient

Generally, support payments made under a court order or written agreement for the maintenance of the recipient are taxable to the recipient and deductible by the payer if:

• the order or agreement clearly specifies the amount to be paid for the spouse or common-law partner; and
• all payments for child support are fully paid for the current and previous years.

Priority of child support

If your court order or written agreement specifies child support payments and support payments for the recipient, priority is given to the child support.

This means that all payments made are first considered to have been made toward child support. Any amount paid over and above the child support amount is considered to be support payments for the recipient.

All child support payable to a recipient must be fully paid before any amounts paid as support for the recipient can be claimed as a deduction. Any arrears in the amount of child support is carried forward and added to the next year's support payable.

Note
The priority of child support does not apply when the child support and spouse or common-law partner support are payable under different court orders or written agreements and the recipients are different people.

Example
Beginning January 2010, Mark had to make monthly support payments of $400 ($150 for his former spouse, and $250 for their children). Mark paid $400 from January to March for a total of $1,200. He made no other payment for the remainder of the year. This means that Mark is in arrears for $1,800 in child support.

When he filed his 2010 income tax and benefit return, Mark could not deduct the spousal support payments because he did not fully pay his child support.

In 2011, Mark must fully pay all child support owing for 2010 and 2011 before he can deduct anything he pays for spousal support.

Forms and publications

• Guide P102, Support Payments
• IT530, Support Payments

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