When someone pays alimony they get a tax deduction for it. But the same amount should be included as taxable income on the return of the person receiving alimony. I think most divorce lawyers believed, and cautioned their clients that the IRS computers will automatically detect any variances and flag the returns. It turns out the IRS computers are not that good.

The inspector general for the IRS has issued a report, according to the Washington Times, that the U.S. government loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year in false alimony deductions. The report says that the IRS doesn’t have a system for detecting the false claims. 47 percent of returns filed in 2010 got it wrong said the inspector general.

Most cases involved a deduction for alimony without matching income on the recipient’s return. In other cases, taxpayers did not report who they were paying alimony to or gave a false taxpayer identification number for the recipient. “Apart from examining a small number of tax returns, the IRS generally has no processes or procedures to address this substantial compliance gap,” the report said.