Personal loans don't normally qualify but maybe yours does. From Topic No. 453, Bad Debt Deduction:
If someone owes you money that you can't collect, you may have a bad debt. For a discussion of what constitutes a valid debt, refer to Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses and Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business (For Individuals Who Use Schedule C). Generally, to deduct a bad debt, you must have previously included the amount in your income or loaned out your cash. If you're a cash method taxpayer (most individuals are), you generally can't take a bad debt deduction for unpaid salaries, wages, rents, fees, interests, dividends, and similar items of taxable income. For a bad debt, you must show that at the time of the transaction you intended to make a loan and not a gift.
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