Can theft of personal property be claimed on taxes?

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hoofaman
Posts: 973
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2020 3:39 pm

Can theft of personal property be claimed on taxes?

Post by hoofaman »

Hi BH,

If personal property is stolen, can this loss be claimed when filing taxes? Based on what I could find, it ​looks like it can't unless the there is a declared state of disaster:

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515

Or can it?

In my case, the item stolen was worth about $500, I tried selling the item online and lost it due to buyer payment fraud. No insurance was used, we take the standard deduction and do not itemize, am I able to claim anything for this?

Thanks!
Last edited by hoofaman on Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
jebmke
Posts: 25475
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:44 pm
Location: Delmarva Peninsula

Re: Can theft of personal property be claimed on taxes?

Post by jebmke »

Been a long time since I looked at it but I think there is a threshold for casualty losses. 10% of AGI comes to mind but it should be spelled out in IRS pubs like Pub 17 or instructions for forms. Sometimes the forms themselves show the calculation of the threshold (e.g. medical section on Schedule A).
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
Katietsu
Posts: 7676
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 1:48 am

Re: Can theft of personal property be claimed on taxes?

Post by Katietsu »

jebmke wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:02 am Been a long time since I looked at it but I think there is a threshold for casualty losses. 10% of AGI comes to mind but it should be spelled out in IRS pubs like Pub 17 or instructions for forms. Sometimes the forms themselves show the calculation of the threshold (e.g. medical section on Schedule A).
This was eliminated, effective 2018, except as related to a federally declared disaster.
hotscot
Posts: 430
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2012 10:05 am

Re: Can theft of personal property be claimed on taxes?

Post by hotscot »

hoofaman wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 9:52 am In my case, the item stolen was worth about $500, I tried selling the item online and lost it due to buyer payment fraud. No insurance was used, we take the standard deduction and do not itemize, am I able to claim anything for this?

Thanks!
Do you have any recourse on the 'buyer payment fraud' aspect?
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