Payments weren’t alimony. Alimony payments are includible in the recipient’s gross income and deductible by the payor. Here, spousal support payments didn’t qualify because they didn’t stop when the recipient spouse died and thus didn’t meet the alimony criteria in the federal tax code, the IRS said in a Private Letter Ruling (PLR). The support agreement wasn’t saved by a state law that support payments generally end when one party dies or the recipient remarries. PLRs apply only to a specific case but can indicate how the IRS thinks on a topic. (PLR 201648001)
