House was deemed totaled,200k in loss. Do I need claim all 200k this year or can I split it every year to eliminate my tax liability say 50k each year for next 4 years?

[er071289]

House was flooded during Hurricane Irma , 200,000 in loss after insurance payments. We only claim 70,000 income. Can I only claim 70k in loss to zero out taxes and then claim it every year until I reach the 200k loss?

[Hal_Al]

Yes and no. You cannot choose how much to use this year. You must use all you can, but anything left over can be carried forward or back.

Casualty and theft losses can be carried back three years or forward for up to 20 years. Any excess losses can be carried in either direction as a net operating loss.

[Carl]

If you just work this through the Casualty & Thefts section under the Deductions & Credits tab (when you get to that point in the program) just answer all the questions *literally*. It will ask for everything, such as total value lost, insurance payout, cost of restoration, deal with if you sold or abandoned it, etc. Just don't go reading "between the lines" in that section. Take it literally or you *will* misinterpret something and provide an incorrect response. Of course, if you have questions while working that section through, just post here and we'll be happy to help.

[Anita01]

Both the comments are correct.  To be clear, make sure you ENTER totals for everything.  You will use as much as you can this year.  Any leftover amount will automatically be carried forward by the program.

[TaxGuyBill]

I could be wrong, but (1) I think you need to specifically state you want to carry it forward (rather than carry it back) and (2) NOLs don't automatically transfer from year to year, so you need to MANUALLY enter the NOL next year.

[Anita01]

TaxGuy Bill is correct in that an excess deduction here will create an NOL, and you will be asked what you would like to do with that.  The NOL amount is carried over automatically but not automatically deducted the next year.  You would have to calculate how much to actually apply in the next year.  I was too focused on clarifying that you needed to enter the full amounts under the Casualty and Loss questions, not just what you could use this year.  Thanks Bill