• Americans paid $9.4 billion in alimony to former spouses in 2007.  (IRS)
• That’s up from $5.6 billion a decade earlier.  (IRS)
• 97% of alimony-payers were men last year.   (U.S. Census)
• The percentage of women supporting ex-husbands is increasing.  (U.S. Census)
• Women made up 46.7% of the work force last year.  (DOL)
• That’s up from 41.2% in 1978.  (DOL)
• Women, 45 to 54 years old, earn 75% as much as men the same age.

– from “The New Art of Alimony” by Jennifer Levitz for the Wall Street Journal

Suspect your spouse has hidden assets in a secret Swiss bank account?  USB, a Swiss bank, has agreed to turn over the names of 4,450 U.S. citizens that have accounts there to the IRS.

The IRS is investigating allegations of tax evasion.  But people hide money for all sorts of reasons, like to avoid creditors, and to avoid splitting up assets in a divorce.

So there are probably many spouses and ex-spouses that would like to get a look at the list.  But, it is not certain that the list will be made public.  The IRS is giving clemency to tax cheaters until September 23.  And IRS settlements are usually confidential.

One way an ex might find out, though, is if a spouse filed a joint tax return with the tax cheater, the ex might be notified by the IRS of the corrected tax filing because his or her name is on the return too.

Read more in this article at Time.com by Stephen Gandel

Although President Obama promises taxes will be lower for 95% of taxpayers, a question I get from time to time is, “Can I save taxes by getting a divorce and just living together?”

Many two-income family taxpayers pay more taxes as a married couple than they would by filing separate tax returns as single individuals.  That’s called the marriage penalty.

The answer is you might save a little bit on taxes, but how much will a divorce cost you, both in terms of dollars and the good will of your spouse?

First, Congress has eliminated the marriage penalty for married couples making less than $132,000 and roughly equal incomes.

If a married couple earns $150,000, with equal incomes and a standard deduction, the marriage penalty is $500.

If they earn $200,000 under the same circumstances, they will pay a marriage penalty of about $787.

And there are other financial benefits to staying married, including inheritance taxes, insurance and Social Security, that you would lose if you got a divorce.  Finally, if you divorce in one year and remarry in the next, the IRS may disregard the divorce and require you to file as married anyway.

Source:  Post by Sue Shellenbarger