Storm damage to your home may allow you to take a tax deduction on your federal income tax. However, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) classifies the deduction as an itemized deduction, so if you claim it you cannot claim the standard deduction.
Calculating Your Loss
The IRS limits the size of your loss to the smaller of your cost basis for the property or the decrease in the fair market value, minus $500, for the tax year 2009.
Insurance
If you have insurance, you must file a claim and reduce the amount of your loss by the amount you are reimbursed by your insurance policy.
Deduction Size
Once you have calculated your loss, you must subtract an additional 10 percent of your adjusted gross income to determine how much you can claim as a tax deduction, for the tax year 2009.
Filing Requirements
You claim your tax deduction by filing Form 4684 and itemizing your deductions using Schedule A, for the tax year 2009.
Disaster Area
If you live in a presidentially declared disaster area, you do not have to subtract 10 percent of your adjusted gross income and you can claim the loss using Schedule L rather than itemizing your deductions, for the tax year 2009.
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