Tax Deductions for Casualty Losses

Video Transcript

"This segment we're going to be talking about casualty losses and this is a big thing in light of the recent wild fires. If you've lost your home and your contents and all the horrible things that go along with that, sometimes we let the tax issue kind of slide, but it's really important that as the negotiations develop regarding your insurance, that you get a pretty good analyst to what you can reasonably expect to be reimbursed by the insurance company. Compile your "best guess", so that you can take a reasonably accurate deduction on your tax return. That is, the amount of loss will be reduced by the insurance, the balance is then reduced by 10% of your adjusted gross income, and, as we saw in the fires of 2003 here in California, many people created what we call "net operating losses", which, in my office, we always carry them forward. I did have a few people do the carry-back, which is also part of being able to claim those losses. So, the point here that I wanted to make in this segment, is to get a good, probable on the insurance reimbursement, because you can get a pretty good idea so that you can take the deduction and not have to tie up your paperwork, and get your tax return done timely, and get a little bit of tax help on the calamity that you face. Thank you for watching, I'm Tom Choisnet. Take a little look at some of my other segments."