Guide Care

1. Take photographs to document damage to your property or belongings. This will be helpful in calculating the amount of your loss. It may also prove beneficial to take photos showing the condition of the property after it is restored or replaced.
2. Keep your receipts. Certain expenses may be deductible or helpful in determining your loss. For example, you and your family may incur deductible medical expenses during this time. Receipts for contracting work can establish the extent of your loss and substantiate the use of insurance reimbursements.
3. File your insurance claim in a timely manner. If your property is covered by insurance, it’s important to file the claim as soon as possible because any reimbursement you receive must be subtracted when calculating a casualty loss.
4. Food, medical supplies and other forms of assistance are not taxable, nor do these items reduce the amount you can claim as a loss unless they replace lost or destroyed items.
5. The cost of cleaning up or making repairs can not be considered part of your casualty loss. However, you can use the cost for repairs as a basis to determine the decrease in fair market value. Again, keep your receipts.
6. Replace property with similar property to avoid paying taxes on any gain from insurance proceeds. However, replacement property does not have to match item-for-item. Because insurance proceeds for the home and its contents are considered a common pool of funds, you can use more of the money to replace the house than its contents, or vice versa.
7. Reimbursements for losses are not taxable, unless you come out ahead by receiving more for the property than its basis (original cost plus the cost of improvements). Even if the reimbursement is more than the basis, you don’t have to pay tax currently if you replace lost, damaged or destroyed items within two years after the loss occurs.
8. You may be able to claim a casualty loss on your tax return.
9. The IRS will waive fees and expedite requests for copies or transcripts of your federal tax return. If you need information from your tax return, use Form 4506-T Request for Transcript of Tax Form to request a transcript of your federal tax return. A transcript shows most of the line items from your return. You may also use Form 4506-T to request account information (payment of estimated taxes, etc.) and transcripts of W-2s and 1099s. If you need greater detail on prior returns than is provided by transcripts, you may request a photocopy of a prior return and any attachments by submitting Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Form.
10. Special considerations for areas declared disasters by the President:

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