I have a question about the damage that was done to my personal property such as food that was lost during hurricane Irma and if that qualifies for a credit?

[MinhT · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can claim the loss as a Casualty and theft loss.

As part of hurricane tax relief, you can deduct your total loss (minus $500 and any amount covered by insurance) along with your usual Standard Deduction. This means you’ll be able to claim everything you lost over $500 without having to itemize deductions on your taxes.

Make sure to indicate in the My Info section that you were affected by a hurricane (see attached screenshot).

To enter your loss in TurboTax, please follow these steps:

• Click on Search on the top right of your screen
• In the search box, type casualty loss
• In the search result page, click on Jump to Casualty loss
• TurboTax will take you through a questionnaire where you can enter the details of your loss

Edited 01.19.18  |  6:30 PM

[Opus 17]

Your losses are lost value of property that were not reimbursed by insurance.  You should combine all your losses from one event in one claim (new roof, trees and landscaping, personal property, flood damage, or whatever.)

[fanfare]

Trees lost in a hurricane are not deductible.

[Opus 17]

Sure they are.  If you can prove that your real property (land plus attached buildings) is worth less due to the loss of your landscaping, thats an allowable casualty loss, the same as if your house had blown away instead.

[macuser_22]

The tax bill that became law in December gave specific relief for hurricane Irma and some other disasters that modify the casualty loss requirements.  See this TurboTax FAQ:

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4160857-what-tax-relief-can-i-get-if-i-ve-been-affected-by-hurrica...>

[allisonge]

If Insurance has still not come through for lost belongings, do I put '0' where it asks for insurance reimbursement?