Can you deduct personal property losses from a hurricane, (tools, equipment, etc)?

[MinhT · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can deduct property lost in a hurricane as a theft and casualty loss.

If you lived in a federally declared disaster area, as part of hurricane tax relief, you can deduct your total loss (minus $500 and any amount covered by insurance) along with your usual Standard Deduction. This means you’ll be able to claim everything you lost over $500 without having to itemize deductions on your taxes. 

Make sure to indicate in the My Info section that you were affected by a hurricane (see attached screenshot).

TurboTax will make all the calculations for you.

To enter your loss in TurboTax, please follow these steps:

• Click on Search on the top right of your screen
• In the search box, type casualty loss and click on the magnifying glass icon on the right
• In the search result page, click on Jump to Casualty loss
• TurboTax will take you through a questionnaire where you can enter the details of your loss