Loss of Pine Trees due to Hurricane Helene

[jbarrett375]

Hurricane Helene struck South Carolina in Sept 2024.  It was declared a Federal Disaster in South Carolina where we live.  During the Hurricane, we had two large Pine Trees that were struck by lightening and had to be removed.  Turbo Tax has a place to put these, but it is asking for how much we originally paid for these pine trees.  The pine trees were on the lot when we purchased it in 2023 and had a house built on it.  So, what is the best way to come up with how much the two large pine trees were worth since that is how Turbo Tax Home/Business Edition wants me to put it in?

[MaryK4]

For this valuation, you have to do a bit of reverse math.  If you are looking to get reimbursed for the removal, you can enter the amount you had to pay as the value before disaster and zero immediately after.  The loss has to reflect what the damage caused- so for example, if the trees were on their last leg and you would have had to pay for removal anyway, it would be different than there were there, but you incurred the expenses because of the hurricane.  

[jbarrett375]

Thanks for the replay.  Another question, the hurricane happened in Sept 2024, but to how many trees fell in our area of South Carolina, it was not until early 2025 before we were able to get a tree trimmer in to remove the trees.  So, would this be a 2024 or a 2025 deduction?

[Vanessa A]

The loss occurred in 2024, even though you didn't have the numbers until 2025, so you would claim it on your 2024 or your 2023 return.  For Hurricane Helene "Affected taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred, or the prior year. In this instance, the 2024 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (the 2023 return filed this year)."