I "think" I can amend my 2022 Tax return because of losses not covered by ins. for Hurricane Ian in 2022 like deductible and losses to property. Is this correct?

[douglasx1]

H.R. 5863 now law. Do I just AMEND 2022? Is TurboTax ready for that?

[Opus 17]

You would amend your 2023 return, not 2022 (that was due April 15, 2024).

Yes, if a loss occurs in 2024, you can either take the deduction on your 2024 return (to be filed after January 31, 2025) or by amending your 2023 return (which you should have originally filed no later than April 15, 2024, unless you had an extension.) https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515

There are two reasons you might want to claim your loss by amending your 2023 return instead of claiming it on your 2024 return.  A) to get a refund faster, or B) if your income is affected by the disaster in a way that would limit the deductibility of the loss.

As for reason A, it is so close to the regular filing season, that you will get any possible refund faster if you claim the loss on your 2024 return. Amended returns are taking more than 5 months to process and the IRS prioritizes current year returns.  As for reason B, only you can determine that by testing both scenarios.

To amend a 2023 return, use these instructions.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/amend-tax-return/amend-2023-federal-stat...

[douglasx1]

What about H.R. 5863 that is now law? It’s the Federal Disaster Relief Act. I have losses from Hurricane Ian that occurred in 2022.  H.R. 5863 Washington signed into law this month.

[Opus 17]

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@douglasx1 wrote:

What about H.R. 5863 that is now law? It’s the Federal Disaster Relief Act. I have losses from Hurricane Ian that occurred in 2022.  H.R. 5863 Washington signed into law this month.

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That law doesn't change anything retroactive to 2022.  The law in effect in 2022 was that you could report a disaster loss on your 2022 return, or you could have amended your 2021 return if that would have been faster.   So if you did not, you can go back and amend.  

The IRS tax notices for various disasters are here.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-in-disaster-situations

[douglasx1]

This is what is confusing me: https://steube.house.gov/taxrelief/

[Opus 17]

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@douglasx1 wrote:

This is what is confusing me: https://steube.house.gov/taxrelief/

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"Further, your net casualty loss wouldn’t need to exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income to qualify for the deduction."

I have not read the law, and the specific wording of this sentence makes no sense, but if it means what I think it means (that the 10% loss deductible does not apply), then I can 100% guarantee that neither Turbotax nor the IRS is ready to process a tax return that claims a loss without using the 10% deductible, given that the law was just signed.  It will likely take the IRS weeks or months to produce a new casualty loss form that does not contain the 10% deductible and program their computers to accept returns (and not consider them math mistakes and reject them).  

Once the IRS has updated their forms, turbotax might or might not fix their 2022 program to allow you to amend (they might decide there are not enough people affected).  There's no way to know and it's not going to happen for a long time if it does.

I will flag this to the moderators.  Sometimes they create a signup for notifications when forms and changes are ready.  

[Opus 17]

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@douglasx1 wrote:

This is what is confusing me: https://steube.house.gov/taxrelief/

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I've researched the law, and it does say that, for disasters between 2020 and February 2025, the 10% deductible on casualty losses is suspended, and you can claim a casualty loss even if you don't itemize your other deductions.

This is a major change, and I expect it will delay people filing with current (2024) casualty losses for several weeks at least.  I have no idea how long it will take the IRS to update their procedures or for Turbotax to update their forms and instructions.  I would check back in a couple of months.  The deadline for amending a 2022 return to claim a loss would be April 15, 2026, so there is plenty of time.