Is It Possible To Claim Unpaid House Damage Repair On Taxes?

Owning a home can result in various tax deductions, including property taxes and mortgage interest. However, the cost of repairing your home is generally not allowed. However, if you suffer a casualty loss due to a sudden, unexpected, or unusual event such as a flood, hurricane, tornado, fire, earthquake, or volcanic eruption, you can deduct the cost of repairing your property on your federal income tax return.

Generally, you can claim a hurricane loss resulting from a federally declared disaster on the tax return for either the disaster year or the year preceding the disaster. If you suffered property losses due to the effects of certain imported drywall installed in homes between 2001 and 2009, under a special procedure, you can deduct the cost.

If your home, vehicle, or household items are damaged or destroyed as a result of a qualifying event that the IRS considers “sudden”, you can deduct personal casualty losses if they are due to a federally declared disaster. The IRS provides an updated list of federally declared disaster areas. Uninsured casualty losses to rental property are tax deductible.

If you have suffered from a theft, accident, fire, flood, or other casualty during the year, you may be able to deduct some of your unreimbursed losses. You can no longer claim casualty and theft losses on personal property as itemized deductions, unless your claim is caused by a federally declared disaster.

The Internal Revenue Code has let some taxpayers deduct unreimbursed losses caused by recent disasters and thefts. Taxpayers may be eligible to claim a casualty deduction for property damage caused by a sudden, unexpected, or unusual event, including car accidents, extreme weather events, and unreimbursed expenses in the year of the disaster.