Hi, question about how and if i can file the hail damage the property suffered in 2016, i am in San Antonio TX

[Carl]

Was this for your primary residence, 2nd home, rental property, or something else? Was there any insurance payout?

[ccortes69]

My apologies. Yes. My primary residence,  damages were aprox 9k, after the deductible the insurance paid 6k, I paid the other 3k

[Carl]

You have nothing concerning this to report on any tax return. however, file all the paperwork with the HUD-1 statement you received when you originally purchased the house. Your new roof is basically a property improvement that adds to the cost-basis of your house. This will matter for your taxes when any one of three things happens in your life.
- You sell the house
- You convert the house to a rental property or other business use such as claiming a home office.
- You die.

[macuser_22 · Accepted solution]

Damages caused by an act of nature would be a casualty loss.   Only the part not covered by insurance would be deductible, but probably would not result in any tax benefit.

A casualty or theft loss must first be reduced by $100, then the total of all casualty losses must be further reduced by 10% of your AGI. If there is anything left after that it would be an itemized deduction and would have no benefit to you unless the total of all of your other itemized deductions exceed your standard deduction.

For 2016 the standard deductions are:

Single or filing Married Filing Separately - $6,300
Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) - $12,600
Head of Household - $9,300

(If over 65 or blind add $1,250 - $1,550 if filing single or HOH)

So unless the amount of the loss was very large and you itemize anyway, as a practical matter it does not matter if it is deductible or not.

For example: If your AGI is $50,000 then 10% of that is $5,000. All of your casualty losses would have to exceed $5,100 before there is any deduction at all, then if you are Married Filing Jointly, that deduction and all other itemized deductions must exceed $12,600 before you would have any tax benefit.

See IRS Publication 547 which can give you all the details of claiming a casualty or theft loss.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p547/index.html