If a taxpayer suffers damage to their
home or personal property, they may be able to deduct the loss they incur on
their federal income tax return. If their area receives a federal disaster
designation, they may be able to claim the loss sooner.
Ordinarily, a deduction is available only if the loss is major and not
covered by insurance or other reimbursement.
Here are 10 tips taxpayers should know about deducting casualty losses:
1.
Casualty loss. A taxpayer may be able to
deduct a loss based on the damage done to their property during a disaster. A
casualty is a sudden, unexpected or unusual event. This may include natural
disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes. It can also
include losses from fires, accidents, thefts or vandalism.
2.
Normal wear and tear. A casualty loss does
not include losses from normal wear and tear. It does not include progressive
deterioration from age or termite damage.
3.
Covered by insurance. If a taxpayer insured
their property, they must file a timely claim for reimbursement of their loss.
If they don’t, they cannot deduct the loss as a casualty or theft. Reduce the
loss by the amount of the reimbursement received or expected to receive.
4.
When to deduct. As a general rule, deduct a
casualty loss in the year it occurred. However, if a taxpayer has a loss from a
federally declared disaster, they may have a choice of when to deduct the loss.
They can choose to deduct it on their return for the year the loss occurred or
on an original or amended return for the immediately preceding tax year.
This means that if a disaster loss occurs in 2017, the taxpayer doesn’t need
to wait until the end of the year to claim the loss. They can instead choose to
claim it on their 2016 return. Claiming a disaster loss on the prior year's
return may result in a lower tax for that year, often producing a refund.
5.
Amount of loss. Figure the amount of loss
using the following steps:
- Determine the adjusted basis in the property before the
casualty. For property a taxpayer buys, the basis is usually its cost to
them. For property they acquire in some other way, such as inheriting it
or getting it as a gift, the basis is determined differently. For more
information, see Publication
551, Basis of Assets.
- Determine the decrease in fair market value, or FMV, of
the property as a result of the casualty. FMV is the price for which a
person could sell their property to a willing buyer. The decrease in FMV
is the difference between the property's FMV immediately before and
immediately after the casualty.
- Subtract any insurance or other reimbursement received
or expected to receive from the smaller of those two amounts.
6.
$100 rule. After figuring the casualty loss
on personal-use property, reduce that loss by $100. This reduction applies to
each casualty-loss event during the year. It does not matter how many pieces of
property are involved in an event.
7.
10 percent rule. Reduce the total of all
casualty or theft losses on personal-use property for the year by 10 percent of
the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income.
8.
Future income. Do not consider the loss of
future profits or income due to the
casualty.
9.
Form 4684. Complete
Form
4684, Casualties and Thefts, to report the casualty loss on a federal tax
return. Claim the deductible amount on
Schedule
A, Itemized Deductions.
10.
Business or income property. Some of the
casualty loss rules for business or income property are different from the
rules for property held for personal use.
Call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 for special help with
disaster-related tax issues. For more on this topic and the special rules for
federally declared disaster-area losses see
Publication
547, Casualties, Disasters and Thefts. Get it and other IRS tax forms on
IRS.gov/forms
at any time.
Avoid scams. The IRS will never initiate contact using social media or text
message. First contact generally comes in the mail. Those wondering if they owe
money to the IRS can
view
their tax account information on IRS.gov to find out.