Property casualty loss- How do I claim all my belongings?

[Matt D]

I lost all of my belongings in a wildfire that was a presidentially declared disaster. I had a joint renters insurance policy with my partner, however I was the primary person on the policy. Can I claim all of the losses on my tax return?  When claiming the losses do I have to input each line item or can I upload a PDF that I got back from my insurance company that has all the line items? 

[MaryK4]

You can only claim your own losses on your tax return.  You do not have to list every item, but you do have to keep the records in case you are audited.  

Other things to note:

For tax years 2018 through 2025, a personal casualty and theft loss of personal-use property for an individual is deductible only if attributable to a federally-declared disaster.  A disaster loss is a loss that occurs in an area determined by Presidential declaration to warrant federal disaster assistance and that is attributable to a federally-declared disaster.

For disaster losses. the $100 limit per casualty loss event increases to $500, the 10% AGI limit does not apply, and the taxpayer can increase his or her standard deduction by the net qualified disaster loss instead of itemizing deductions. he $100 limit per casualty loss event increases to $500, the 10% AGI limit does not apply, and the taxpayer can increase his or her standard deduction by the net qualified disaster loss instead of itemizing deductions.

If an insurance or other type of reimbursement is received, the reimbursement must be subtracted when computing the loss. There is no casualty or theft loss to the extent of the reimbursement.

[Matt D]

@MaryK4 Thank you for your response. On the deduction page it asks for Cost Basis. On our final insurance letter they used two numbers. Replacement Cost and Actual Cash Value. Do I use 1) Cost Basis, how much we paid for all our items, the 2) Replacement Cost, what it would cost to replace plus sales tax, or 3) do we use the Actual Cash Value, the value of the items plus sales tax minus depreciation? 

[MaryK4]

For the Casualty loss, the basis should be the amount you paid.  You will then be asked the Fair Market Value before Loss (which should be the replacement value minus the 10% per year- this is the safe harbor) and Fair Market Value after Loss, which is most cases is zero.

Your deduction will be the lower of the cost basis or replacement cost.

The Replacement cost safe harbor method (federally-declared disasters only) is the current cost to replace personal belongings with a new item reduced by 10% for each year owned. Must be used for all personal belongings, with certain exceptions.

@Matt D