Amount you can claim or report - Personal income tax

The tax rules that apply to your situation depend on whether your court order  or written agreement  was made:


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

The following provides the same information in two different formats:

Answer interactive questions

Do you have a court order or written agreement for the support payments you paid or received?

Reporting payments that pre-date an order or agreement. Support payments paid or received before the order or agreement was made (in that year or in the previous year) have to be reported as income by the recipient and are deductible by the payer on their respective tax returns only if the order or agreement states that these payments were considered to have been received under that order or agreement.

  • Yes

    Did you pay or receive an allowance on a periodic basis?

    • Yes

      Does either of the following situations apply?

      • When the support payments were paid or received, the recipient was the payer's current or former spouse or common-law partner, and the payer and recipient were living apart because of a breakdown in the relationship.
      • The payer is the legal parent of a child of the recipient.
      • Yes

        Were the payments made either:

        • to the recipient?
        • to a third-party and the recipient could use the amount as they saw fit?
        • for a specific-purpose and the recipient could use the amount as they saw fit?
        • for a specific-purpose and the recipient could not use the amount as they saw fit, but the court order or written agreement states that the recipient will include the payments in their income and that the payer can deduct them?
        • Yes

          Which type of support payment did you pay or receive?

          • Support for a child only

            Was the court order or written agreement made:

            • Before May 1997?

              Which one of the following applies?

              • The payer and the recipient elected to make the child support payments not taxable or deductible by sending Form T1157, Election for Child Support Payments
              • The court order or written agreement states that the child support received after April 1997 is not taxable and not deductible
              • The court order or written agreement was changed after April 1997 to modify the amount of the child support (we do not consider a cost-of-living adjustment to be a change)
              • None of the above
            • After April 1997?
          • Support for a child and for a current or former spouse or common-law partner (if the court order or written agreement does not specify an amount for the spouse or common-law partner, we consider it all to be child support)

            Was the court order or written agreement made:

            • Before May 1997?

              Which one of the following applies?

              • The payer and the recipient elected to make the child support payments not taxable or deductible by sending Form T1157, Election for Child Support Payments
              • The court order or written agreement states that the child support received after April 1997 is not taxable and not deductible
              • The court order or written agreement was changed after April 1997 to modify the amount of the child support (we do not consider a cost-of-living adjustment to be a change)
              • None of the above
            • After April 1997?
          • Support for a current or former spouse or common-law partner only
        • No
      • No
    • No
  • No
Read full text

Determine if the support payments received or paid are taxable or deductible

The following is the alternate format to the above questions or results, and provides the same information in full-text.

The tax rules that apply to your situation depend on whether your court order or written agreement was made:

Before May 1997

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

Support payments for a child or a current or former spouse or common-law partner, under a court order or written agreement made before May 1997, are taxable to the receipient and deductible by the payer unless any of the following four situations applies:

  • Changes to the 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 revised amount has to follow the tax rules in effect after April 1997. For more information, go to Tax rules for court orders or written agreements made after April 1997.

    Automatic changes in the amount of support, based on cost-of-living increases or changes in the payer's income, that are stated in the order or agreement are not included in this rule. For more information on the cost-of-living increases, visit Statistics Canada. If you live in Quebec, visitez l'Institut de la statistique du Québec.

  • A new court order or written agreement with the same person
    The amounts under the original and the new court order or written agreement have to follow the tax rules in effect after April 1997 if all of the following apply:

    • The original order or agreement was made before May 1997.
    • The original order or agreement is still valid.
    • The new order or agreement was made after April 1997 with the same person.
    • The new order or agreement changes the total amount of child support payable.

    The tax rules in effect after April 1997 apply to both orders or agreements, starting on the date specified in the new order or agreement or on the day it was made. For more information, go to Tax rules for court orders or written agreements made after April 1997.

  • 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 will no longer be taxable and deductible. However, this date cannot be before May 1, 1997.
  • Election for child support payment
    If you have a court order or written agreement dated before May 1997, you can choose to follow the tax rules in effect after April 1997 without having to change the order or agreement. The payer and the recipient must both agree to this election. Both parties must sign Form T1157, Election for Child Support Payments, and send it to the Canada Revenue Agency. Once the election has been accepted, the order or agreement will follow the tax rules that apply after April 1997. It cannot be reversed.

    A separate form must be filled out for each order or agreement.

After April 1997

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

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

For an order or agreement made after April 1997, federal, provincial or territorial child support guidelines may automatically change the support amounts. For more information, visit Child Support on the Department of Justice Canada's website.

Child support payments

Under court orders and written agreements made after April 1997, any support amount that is not stated in the order or agreement as being only 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 the recipient's income.

Spousal support payments

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 both of the following situations apply:

  • The order or agreement clearly states the amount to be paid for the current or former spouse or common-law partner.
  • 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 overdue child support amounts are carried forward and added to the next year's support payments.

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

Mark and Dana are separated. Beginning January 2022, Mark had to make monthly support payments of $400 ($150 for Dana, 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 rest of the year. Mark owes $2,250 in child support.

When he filed his 2022 tax return, Mark could not deduct the spousal support payments because he did not fully pay his child support. However, Dana still had to report the spousal support payments received ($150 x 3 =  $450) on her 2022 tax return.

In 2023, Mark must fully pay all child support owing for 2022 and 2023 before he can deduct anything he pays for spousal support.

Forms and publications

Page details

Date modified: