Précis: The taxpayer and his former spouse agreed to a consent order which provided that the taxpayer would pay a net amount (the net being calculated in accordance with the Federal Child Support Guidelines) to his former spouse for child support. He claimed a deduction for child support in 2014 pursuant to subsection 118(5.1) of the Income Tax Act (the Act) on the basis that he alleged that the effect of the netting out was that both he and his former spouse paid child support. The consent order was varied in both 2016 and 2017 in an attempt to comply with the provisions of subsection 118(5.1). The Tax Court rejected the claim for a deduction in 2014 on the authority of the decision in Verones v. The Queen, 2013 FCA 69, 2013 DTC 5061 which held that such a set-off (netting out) did not meet the requirements of subsection 118(5.1). Thus the appeal was dismissed, but without costs since this was an informal procedure appeal.
Bayrack v. R. – TCC: No child support deduction where taxpayer paid a net amount to his former spouseREAD MORE »