If you've suffered the results of a theft, accident, fire, flood, or some other casualty during the year, you may be able to deduct some of your unreimbursed losses.
Casualty losses are treated somewhat differently depending on whether the loss occurred to property used in your trade or business, property used to generate investment income, or property used for personal or family purposes. However, regardless of the type of property, the loss must first be reported on IRS Form 4684.
Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts (standard .pdf file)
Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts (fill-in .pdf file)
The file is in Adobe portable document format (PDF), which requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
To get a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader software, go to the Adobe web site.
For more information, see our discussion of casualty and theft losses.