My son was recently before a judge (yesterday) and the judge ruled child support (till 18), alimony (8 months) and day care payments until the child begins to attend kindergarten. Is any of this tax deductible?

1. The child support is not income tax deductible as your son and his ex-wife both have a legal obligation to support his children.

2. The spousal support is income tax deductible to the payor (your son) and reportable as income to the payee (his ex-wife).

Whether the day care expenses are deductible depends on how the order is written and whether they are considered part of the child support payments. If they are considered as a child support payment, it is not considered tax deductible. However, I believe there may be some tax credits available for child care expenses, although I don't know what the limitations or qualifications are. I would have your son contact his accountant, or if he uses Quicken's TurboTax, I would have him look it up there or at the IRS web site (http://www.irs.gov/).

CCSand