Tag Archives: #casualtyloss

What if your home was vandalized by a group of peaceful protestors

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Under the 2017 Tax Act, no deduction for you. Hope you’re insured because until 2023 such a loss is not deductible. I suspect those living in some of these riot zones are going to have a big surprise.

What if you car was destroyed, same result. Personal property is also not subject to a casualty loss for vandalism.

The only casualty losses allowed are for casualty losses from a natural disaster in a federally declared natural disaster. Luckily the Administration has been quite generous in declaring FEMA natural disasters.

So your business was vandalized during a peaceful protest

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First, you should contact your insurance company and let them know that you have a loss. But lets say, your insurance lapsed and you wish to deduct the loss suffered on your taxes. Let’s say you rent your space and several thousand dollars of electronics were stolen. You get to deduct, the lesser of the cost of those electronics or fair market value.
Let’s say you’re a landlord and a plate glass window was destroyed and it cost $1,000 to fix. Your deduction is the lesser of: calculated as follows: Fair market value of the building before the loss minus fair market value after the loss or cost of replacement. So, let’s say despite the broken plate glass window the value of your building stayed the same, no deduction. So, around next April, you will start to hear squeals of pain, when business people discover they don’t even have much of a tax deduction.