Parents who receive child support payments are not required to include those payments in their taxable income. Payor parents are not permitted to deduct these child support payments from their taxable income.
The result of this rule is that parents who receive child support payments are able to spend more of their support payments on their children.
There is an exception to this rule if your child support arrangements were made prior to April 30, 1997. If you have an old agreement that was made before 1997, you can elect to have the current rules apply. However, both you and your spouse must agree to the new rule, and complete a form T1157. If you would like this rule to apply but your spouse does not, you will have to go to court to request a new child support order.
