@gdaigre wrote:
On May 17,2021, my house flooded. The flood was a national diaster declaration 4606 DR LA Can I claim losses on the 2021 return? Can I use contractor invoices to determine losses. The house damages were completely redone in 2021. Can demolition charges be included in the loss?
If you have a casualty loss due to a declared disaster, you can list it on your tax return. There are a number of rules you need to know. And ultimately, you might not actually get a deduction, because of certain limitations.
First, the amount of your loss is the decrease in fair market value caused by the flooding. This usually requires a before and after appraisal. You can use the cost of restoration as a fair estimate of the loss if you restore the property to original condition. If you make the property better (such as, using the opportunity to remodel the kitchen or add an addition) then restoration costs will not be an acceptable estimate of the loss.
You must reduce the amount of the loss by any insurance reimbursements.
Then when you claim a loss on your tax return, it will be reduced by two deductibles. First, there is a $500 per event deductible. Then, there is a deductible equal to 10% of your adjusted gross income. Any remaining amount is an itemized deduction on schedule A, which will only result in a tax savings if the total of all your itemized deductions is more than your standard deduction. (Turbotax will handle all these calculations automatically.)
