If you want to go this route (which I don't recommend) you most certainly can. But understand that your casualty and thefts claim is dealt with outside of and completely separate from, the SCH E. In fact, you have to work that through "first" to get your bottom line figure of allowed loss, before you can make any adjustments to the cost basis of anything. So go ahead and work this trough the "Casualty and Thefts" section under the Deductions and Credits tab first. Overall, I would recommend professional help this year, because more often than not, those that do this themselves tend to get it wrong. So here's the pointer on that.
When entering the numbers, you do not and can not include the value of the land.You do not have a loss of land at all. You only have loss or damage to the structure itself, and that's it. If insurance is involved, then understand that for rental property there is no insurance on the land. Insurance providers do not insure land. They only insure the structures on that land.
So when the program asks for FMV before and after the loss, the values you enter will not include the value of the land. You enter the value of the structure's "only" that are on that land. That would include the FMV of things like a fence, the driveway, damage to the in ground swimming pool, etc. Not the value of the land at all.
I still suggest you get professional help this year, because in years past I see tons of refunds delayed or folks having to pay some or all of their refund back to the IRS because they did it all wrong. It can make the cost of professional help seem like a pittance in comparison.
