The tax consequences to each party. The contributions as parent, wage earner, homemaker, and to career or career potential of the other party. Cohabitation of the recipient spouse, as it affects his or her needs. It has to be included in the taxble income of the recipient. Child support, on the other hand, is not deductible by the payer, and it is not included in the taxable income of the recipient.
Payers usually prefer to categorize payments as alimony, because they get a tax deduction.
And, often, the tax benefit to the payer outweighs the tax cost to the recipient. In these cases, the parties can increase the alimony payment just enough to compensate the recipient's tax cost, and have the payer still come out ahead. First of all, sometimes the recipient and payer are in the same tax bracket. Then there's no overall benefit. Second, there are legal requirements that must be met in order for alimony to be tax deductible.