Fire

Casualty and Theft losses are not reported on a federal tax return unless they occurred in a federally declared disaster area.

Generally, insurance payments are to reimburse you for a loss in the use or value of your property and are not taxable. See IRS Publication 547 for more details regarding the tax implications of casualty losses.

For tax years 2018 through 2025, if you are an individual, casualty and theft losses of personal-use property are deductible only if the losses are attributable to a federally declared disaster (federal casualty loss).

.An exception to the rule limiting the deduction for personal casualty and theft losses to federal casualty losses applies where you have personal casualty gains. In this case, you may deduct personal casualty losses that aren’t attributable to a federally declared disaster to the extent they don’t exceed your personal casualty gains.

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Example: Martin and Grace experienced multiple personal casualties in 2023. Grace’s diamond necklace was stolen, resulting in a $15,500 casualty loss. Martin and Grace also lost their camper as a result of a lightning strike. They have replacement-value insurance on the camper, so they have a $13,000 gain. Finally, they lost their car in a flood determined to be a federally declared disaster, resulting in a casualty loss of $25,000. Because Martin and Grace experienced a $13,000 personal casualty gain as a result of the replacement-value insurance, they can offset that gain with a portion of their loss attributable to the stolen necklace and claim the full federal casualty loss of $25,000 subject to the $100 and 10% of AGI reductions.

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