To declare the cost to repair and replace items lost or damaged by flood due to Hurricane Helene in a federally declared disaster area using TurboTax, follow these steps:
First:
- Check to see if you are in a federally declared disaster are here.
- Open TurboTax and navigate to your tax return.
- Go to the search bar at the top right of the screen.
- Type "Casualty loss" in the search bar.
- Click the "Jump to" link that appears in the search result
- Select Yes on the Did you have anything damaged or stolen in 2024? screen.
- Answer the questions about your event, entering your Description in the following format: State, Disaster (for example, California, Wildfires).
Next Enter Your Casualty Loss
- Enter the details of the damaged or lost property, including the type of property (personal, business, or investment).
- Calculate the loss: Determine the decrease in fair market value of the property due to the flood. This is the amount you can deduct, but it cannot exceed your original cost
- Subtract any reimbursements: Since you don't have flood insurance, you may not any reimbursements to subtract
- Complete IRS Form 4684: TurboTax will guide you through filling out this form, which is necessary for reporting casualty losses
Additional Resources
- IRS Publication 547: This publication provides detailed information on how to report disaster area losses. You can review it here
- TurboTax Help Article: For more detailed instructions, you can refer to this TurboTax support article
