Tiffany Bond  🦞 🇺🇸Verified account

So the only thing I would take from Gould is that alimony is treated how tax code says it is, because that's what tax code does...not that alimony should be treated this way, because it's retro and whatnot. TAX CODE IS NOT HIPSTER. I digress. #mepolitics #TaxReform

Once we move past the idiocy that is "we do it this way because we can pretend we read a decision we didn't read (#lexisfail, should have Shepardized) from 100 years ago so we sound like we are paying attention and banking on no one else reading this"... #mepolitics #TaxReform

Why aren't former spouses like children? So many reasons... 1. Children are dependents. They are a tax deduction. You cannot count a former spouse as a dependent, but when you were married, you *could*. #mepolitics #TaxReform

2. Former spouses usually can work, and in many cases modern alimony is designed to be transitional "income". These funds are generally to recognize their partnership contribution, they should share the tax burden since the $ are spent in their household. #mepolitics #TaxReform

3. It begs the question of are we taxing where money is taken in? Or are we taxing where it is consumed as discretionary profits? Taxing it when it comes in treats businesses better than people because businesses get to deduct things they have to spend. #mepolitics #TaxReform

4. Many states, like Maine, have no statutory framework for alimony - it's judicial discretion. You may hear things like "it is usually 40-50% of the collective income to the less monied party after attributing child support and tax effect." #mepolitics #TaxReform

4 in english - not every state alimonies with clear rules or well, and statutes may or may not consider tax. #mepolitics #TaxReform

5. Um...there isn't a nice way to say this, so Judges/Magistrates, turn away. The bench doesn't always math well. They don't always have access to software to help them and we are all human. Unlike federal law that shouldn't be rushed, family often is. #mepolitics #TaxReform