Yes, you can deduct the loss. The only thing you would need to worry about regarding insurance would be reducing the amount of loss by the amount of reimbursement by your insurance company. Since you had no reimbursement, you can deduct the entire loss.
Will the loss affect your return? That depends on whether or not you itemize your deductions.
The loss will be calculated as the difference between the Fair Market Value of the property that was damaged before the hurricane and the Fair Market Value after the hurricane. The Fair Market Value is what you could have sold the property for at those times.
If your losses are due to the 2017 hurricanes, click yes when asked if you were affected by them at the end of the personal information input process. (See the screenshot below) If you answer yes to this question, the Casualties and Theft Loss will show up automatically under the Deductions and Credits tab. (See the second screenshot below)
If you were not affected by the 2017 hurricanes or missed that question, click on the search box in the upper right corner. Type in “Casualty Loss” and click on the magnifying glass. You should see a “Jump to” link as the first option. Click on the Jump to link. (See the third screenshot below.)
- You will be asked for a description of the Casualty
- the date it happened
- the property type (Personal property or Income-producing).
- a description of the property,
- the date acquired,
- the cost of the property and
- insurance reimbursement (which in your case would be $0.
- On the next screen, you will be asked what the property was worth just before the hurricane and immediately after.
Per the IRS link found here, "you must figure the loss on each item separately" if more than one item was damaged. Then combine the losses to determine the total loss from that casualty or theft.”
You can enter each item in Turbo Tax. (See the fourth screenshot)
You can find additional information about the Casualty Loss Deduction by clicking here
