Does the IRS include child support payments as income when filing taxes?

They have a special line for it on the 1040 form.

Child support is not a deduction. Child expenses are a part of having children and the children themselves can be claimed on taxes, but only by one person. He may get a court order allowing him alternate years. This is common as each parent covers half the expenses, thus each parent gets tax relief half of the supported years. The court will then order her to sign the necessary forms. Which, I'm told are necessary but have never used even though I've claimed my nephew a couple years and my ex and I alternate claiming our son. As long as only one person claims each child, the IRS doesn't care who has custody, which is what makes those forms necessary. If two people claim the child, the IRS looks to see if the form is filed (the 8332, I think?) and, if it isn't, whoever has custody gets the deduction while the other gets penalties. If the person getting penalized for the unauthorized deduction has a court order stating their right to the deduction, they may file court action for contempt of a court order and sue the other party for the penalties enforced by the IRS.

No, no, a thousand times no!

Alimony is treated as taxable income to the recipient. The payer gets a tax deduction for it.

If the recipient gets both alimony and child support, and the payer is behind in the payments, the IRS deems the child support to have been paid before alimony. That way, the delinquent payer is not entitled to relief and the recipient pays less tax.

Child support is not deductible nor is it to be claimed by the recipient as income. The custodial parent or the parent who provides more than 50% of the child's support is entitled to the exemptions for the child(ren). A court order that stipulates otherwise may supercede the standard IRS regulation.

As usual, more wrong answers than right ones to this question. Ninasgram and skip have it right. Child support payments are not reported on income tax either by the payer or recipient, and are not taxable nor deductible.

Alimony is deductible by the payer and taxable to the recipient - there's a line on the 1040 for that.

Child support is not taxable to the person receiving it. It is not deductible by the person paying it. It does not appear on the tax return and has no effect on whether the custodial parent may claim the child.

Child support is not considered earned income for purposes of figuring the Earned Income Credit.

No it is not considered income. It doesn't matter if you pay or receive it you can not claim it at all on your tax return. Alimony on the other hand is taxable when you pay and receive.

No, child support is not income. Alimony is income

CHILD SUPPORT IS NOT TAXABLE TO THE FEDERAL GOVT BUT CHECK WITH YOUR STATE YOU MAY HAVE TO CLAIM IT WITH THEM

yes