You'll need to sign in or create an account to connect with an expert.
The settlement is taxable if it is more than the cost basis. For a personal vehicle, your cost basis is what you originally paid. In this case, the settlement is less than your cost, so it is not taxable. (The loan amount is irrelevant.)
For a vehicle used in business, you must reduce your cost basis by the depreciation you claimed or could have claimed. If you used the actual expense method, the actual amount of depreciation you claimed is in your worksheets. If you used the standard mileage method, a portion of the standard mileage rated included depreciation, the amount varies from 20-28 cents per mile and there is a chart in publication 463.
https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-463
For example, suppose you drove for Uber and claimed 20,000 miles per year for 3 years. That's about $15,000 of depreciation, which reduces your cost basis to $45,000. That makes $2,000 of the settlement to be taxable business income. (The calculation is a bit more complex than that, but that's the basic concept.) In turbotax you should have listed the car as a business asset when you started driving for uber. You would now list it as "sold" to the insurance company for $47K, and let the program calculate if any part of the settlement is taxable.
if a personal vehicle, the loss is not deductible.
Still have questions?
Make a postAsk questions and learn more about your taxes and finances.
xu3
Level 1
docbob235
Level 1
81rxv1te
Returning Member
TAPS2050
Returning Member
lynnfelske
New Member
Did the information on this page answer your question?
You have clicked a link to a site outside of the TurboTax Community. By clicking "Continue", you will leave the Community and be taken to that site instead.