Can I claim a loss of money sent to my granddaughter, through the post office?

[Marcia Wilson]

I wrote several handwritten letters to the Postmaster, and because I was never told that I could not send CASH and I did not make copies of the bills for my records, by the fourth letter from the post office, I was sent a check to cover the cost of the insurance and the mailing fee. The post office beleived the assistant post master in Winnie, TX, that the priority mail pouch had been returned to me and perhaps under a new priority number. I assured I had never received the priority pouch under any number.  I was out of luck and lost $600.00! Can I claim this loss from last Jaunary, 2023?

[KrisD15]

You can try, but chances are you won't be able to because of the low amount. 

Additionally, you would need to Itemized Deductions rather than take the Standard Deduction. 

Here are the instructions for claiming a theft loss:

Individuals may claim their casualty and theft losses as an itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions (or Schedule A (Form 1040-NR), if you're a nonresident alien). For property held by you for personal use, you must subtract $100 from each casualty or theft event that occurred during the year after you've subtracted any salvage value and any insurance or other reimbursement. Then add up all those amounts and subtract 10% of your adjusted gross income from that total to calculate your allowable casualty and theft losses for the year.