If I lost money due to a phone scam and filed a police report, can I deduct that?

[HeleneP]

I was scammed by a person pretending to be a company I do business with.  I filed a police report.  Is this deductible?

[AmandaR1 · Accepted solution]

Yes, that will qualify for an loss event under the itemized deductions. To enter, you can search "theft" in the top right search box and then select the first resulting link, Jump to theft in the results.

The software will ask you all applicable questions to assure you qualify. Also, this may or may not impact your return because this deduction is limited and only deducted as an itemized deduction. 

Be sure to enter all deductions before evaluating if you qualify to itemize or not. 

[miral2]

I was scammed for a huge amount of money, devastated I started to search for help. Someone refered an expert and private investigator, Optimus. I emailed him and as soon as I explained what had occurred he told me immediately that it was all a scam. He gathered my case together and within a few days we got a result and I got all of my money back! Optimus was amazing, professional and efficient, he guided me through the whole experience. I cannot thank him enough - I can now live again! His mail info is
[email address removed, possible spam--see terms of use]

[stoney091998]

to you have to pay taxes on a gift to a friend or family member?

[xmasbaby0]

@stoney091998   Why did you post this completely unrelated question in this old thread?
But here is the answer:
Money that you receive as a gift is not taxable income to you, and you do not need to report it on your income tax return.  Money that you gave as a gift to someone else is not deductible for your taxes.

Turbo Tax does not support the gift tax form 709, but here is a link:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f709.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f709.pdf</a>

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/estates/the-gift-tax-made-simple/L5tGWVC8N">https://turbotax.in...>

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleaebeling/2017/10/19/irs-announces-2018-estate-and-gift-tax-limits-...>

[songrichmond]

I would very much appreciate if you would let me know the person's name at Optimus. I am a victim of a phone scam and lost a huge amount of money. Perhaps, I could receive some advice as to how to claim the loss on my income tax. The way it is, I have to pay a huge amount of income tax for not having withheld enough income tax for the money I lost that was drawn from my IRA account.

[xmasbaby0]

@songrichmond    This is an old thread full of other people's posts.  We answer income tax questions, and we certainly would not know the name of someone at "Optimus" to give to you.  If you lost money to some sort of scam in 2018 or 2019, it is not deductible on your income tax.  The new tax laws took away theft losses as a deduction on your income tax.  You will have to pursue the perpetrator of your loss though the legal and court system. We cannot give you legal advice here.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4482873-which-federal-tax-deductions-have-been-suspended-by-tax-re...

[Bees]

TAX LAW CHANGED in 2018     

This posted by accident late in November from something I started in July.

[cbutter]

Form 4684 ask when acquired property.   It was cash that I took out of savings/401k to pay to a probation person claiming they had my grandson and need $13000.00.  

[AmyC]

For the 4684, the date is to determine if long or short term loss. So you can use various for when you acquired the property or choose a date a year or more before the incident for long term loss. This will not be deductible on your federal but might be on your state. 

@cbutter

[a18dag22]

In August of 2020, we lost a huge amount of money, via our Bank account all via the internet - Crime. our personal information was compromised and then the same people to it to another level and tried to pretend we were kidnapping to get addition moneys from our family member.  This went on for several days.

The money was traced to an oversea bank account and we have no way or help to get it back. All banks involved washed there hands and the USA-Federal Authority did take the Crime reports,but going on a years later we have not hears Any feedback or Any response for this Crime. We basically lost it all every bank and local and federal agency only took a report. The Federal Agency will not advise of the case,all we have a the report number. it's a very hopeless way to survive after a lost.

My Question is Do We have Any Opportunity To Claim this on Our Tax Returns. ($250,000.00)

[MayaD]

No, you can no longer claim theft losses on a tax return unless the loss is attributable to a federally declared disaster.

The deduction for personal casualty or theft losses has been repealed in tax years 2018–2025, unless the loss occurred in a federally-declared disaster area.

Previously, uninsured losses exceeding $100 due to fire, theft, or natural disaster could be deducted if the total loss amount exceeded 10% of the AGI, regardless of location.

[Brian_08]

That’s fu#king bullsh#t!  The government has MORE than enough money to give to VICTIMS of scams!  Besides it’s not even my fault.  It’s the scammers fault!  So this just sends me the message that our government doesn’t give a flying fu#k about VICTIMS in this country!  And they don’t PUNISH criminals!  I should be compensated for my losses!

[Mike9241]

the tax law change affecting you was enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. 

when I'm unhappy about tax law changes that affect me, I vote for the other party but that's after taking all the changes into a/c

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017 

[xmasbaby0]

@Brian_08 The tax laws that changed for 2018 and beyond eliminated the deduction for theft and casualty losses.  Even previous to the tax law change, the government did not just "compensate" you for a loss.   You would only have been able to deduct part of your loss IF you had enough other itemized deductions to exceed your standard deduction----and many people do not have enough itemized deductions to have any effect.

Seek compensation in civil court by filing a lawsuit against the scammer or thief who got your money.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4482873-which-federal-tax-deductions-have-been-suspended-by-tax-re...