"You can deduct qualified disaster losses for both regular
and AMT purposes without itemizing other deductions on Schedule A. Moreover,
your net casualty loss from these qualified disasters does not need to exceed
10% of your adjusted gross income to qualify for the deduction, but the $100
limit per casualty is increased to $500." (from IRS Pub. below)
You can deduct
losses of items such as food in freezers and damage caused due to the
hurricane. These can be claimed on Schedule A as Itemized
Deductions. TurboTax will calculate any disaster losses you may have
due to the electricity being cut off for an extended period.
To qualify, a
loss must be attributable to a federally declared disaster and occur in an area
determined by the President to warrant assistance by the federal government
under the Stafford Act, such as Hurricane Irma. The deduction is limited
to the “net disaster loss” which consists of the excess of
personal casualty losses attributable to a federally declared disaster over
personal casualty gains. TurboTax will figure what is
allowable based on how you answers the questions in the program.
To
enter Hurricane Damage:
1. Open
your return (if not already opened).
2. Type
“hurricane damage” (upper-case works too) in Search box (upper-right
corner of the screen).
3. Click
on “Jump to hurricane damage” link.
4. Follow
the screen prompts.
For more
information - IRS Instructions for Form 4680 (Casualties and Thefts): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i4684.pdf
