Please provide exact wording used in your proposed agreement.
Was this agreement prepared by the divorce attorney?
The section you provided is clear a property settlement and not an alimony.
The only tax benefits resulted from this agreement - you both are required to file a joint tax return and will divide the refund "based upon their separate income andwithholding during the year". Unless you are in very good terms I might foresee the issue in determination of the fair share especially you your income level is very different.
As you will be in the process to have a permanent divorce decree - you might need to know that alimony (or maintenance) payments are taxable income for a recipient and are deductible for payer.
In order to be treated as deductible alimony, payments made from you to your spouse (or ex-spouse) must meet all of the following requirements:
See for reference the IRS publication 504 - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p504.pdf
If any of these requirements are not clearly written in the divorce decree - payments are likely be classified as Property Settlement.
Let me know if you need any help.
First of all - I would be more précised in determination how refund will be divided.
For instance - if each of you will file separate tax returns compare if you file jointly - there might be the difference. I might suggest that difference should be divided either equal or in proportion to gross income of each spouse.
Then - if one spouse does not live at the property - the statement "responsible for one half of the mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance on a monthly basis" - is not fair - part of this payment is actually an alimony. But that should be discussed with YOUR attorney.
From tax prospective - if you file a joint tax return - it doesn't matter. But if you will file separate tax returns - that might be a large difference.
It is possible that by filing joint tax return - either one spouse gains, or both, and it is possible that one spouse gains more than other - while that might not be in the agreement - we need to be clear if you gain or loose by filing a joint tax return.
The statement that "parties shall file joint tax returns for the year 2009" - what if one party refuse to sign the tax return? - there is no law to force either party to sign the return and there might be valid reasons for that because by signing the return both parties are equally responsible (not in equal parts!) for ALL tax liability resulted from that return. If you agree to file jointly - I would expect that according to the agreement - the party which refuses to sign should be responsible for all losses of another party.
Tax Preparer
Taxes, Immigration, Labor Relations