sm3gurpal wrote:

- quote -

I see nothing that permits you to deduct said interest,
since the instructions only speak of you, your spouse, or
dependents.

She is not now a spouse, and certainly not your dependent
now or previously.

But..... you might want to check possibility of claiming the
whole payments as alimony.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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sheesh3[at]yahoo.com wrote:
- quote -

I'm not sure how you concluded "Yes" to the question of
whether this taxpayer can deduct the student interest
expense. The actual Code section says:

The term "qualified education loan" means any indebtedness
incurred by the taxpayer solely to pay qualified higher
education expenses--

(A) which are incurred on behalf of the taxpayer, the
taxpayer's spouse, or any dependent of the taxpayer as of
the time the indebtedness was incurred,

The JCT General Explanation says:

A qualified education loan generally is defined as any
indebtedness incurred to pay for the qualified higher
education expenses of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse,
or any dependent of the taxpayer as of the time the
indebtedness was incurred in attending ..."

There is a subtle difference in the two. The Code says that
the taxpayer had to have incurred the debt for himself,
spouse or dependent at the time the loan was obtained. The
JCT only says the debt had to be incurred (no reference to
who had to have incurred it) for those same individuals.

I'm not sure that an assumed debt as part of a split of
marital property still conforms to the language in the Code.
It does conform to the JCT explanation.

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

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elambeth[at]hotmail.com (sm3gurpal) wrote:

- quote -

The short answer is "Yes".

The longer answer, from the IRS (per
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc456.html) is:

You cannot claim the deductions if:

Another taxpayer claims an exemption for you as a dependent,
Your filing status is married filing separately, or You are
not legally obligated to make payments on the loan.

A qualified student loan is a loan you took out to pay
qualified expenses. The expenses must have been:

For you, your spouse, or a person who was your dependent
when you took out the loan, Paid or incurred within a
reasonable time before or after you took out the loan, and
For education furnished during a period when the recipient
was an eligible student.

bex

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My ex-wife's student loans were assigned to me in our
divorce, so I am 100% responsible for paying them now....
can I claim the student loan interest deduction on my income
taxes?

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