The old rule was that the person paying alimony could get a tax deduction for making these payments. The old rule also said that the person receiving the alimony payments had to report them as taxable income. With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, those rules no longer apply to new divorce agreements. This new tax law has flipped the tax benefits from the person paying to the person receiving. Now, the spouse making alimony payments no longer get a tax deduction. And the spouse receiving the alimony no longer has to pay taxes on the payments received. Keep this in mind when negotiating your divorce agreement.