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The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing.
And enter it on (including any improvements, such as build- Tax questions. If you have a tax question
Take what's in each row of... Form 4684... ings, trees, and shrubs) is treated as one item. not answered by this publication, check
Column 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 1 Figure the loss using the smaller of the follow- IRS.gov and How To Get Tax Help.
Column 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 2 ing.
Column 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 3 The decrease in FMV of the entire prop-
Column 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 4 erty. How To Get Tax Help
Column 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 5 The adjusted basis of the entire property.
Column 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 6 If you have questions about a tax issue, need
Column 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 7 Deduction limits. After you have figured the help preparing your tax return, or want to down-
Column 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 8 amount of your loss, as discussed earlier, you load free publications, forms, or instructions, go
Column 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line 9 must figure how much of the loss you can de- to IRS.gov and find resources that can help you
duct. You do this on Form 4684, section A. If right away.
the loss was to property for your personal use
Losses or your family's, there are two limits on the Preparing and filing your tax return. Find
amount you can deduct for your casualty or free options to prepare and file your return on
Generally, you may deduct losses to your theft loss. IRS.gov or in your local community if you qual-
home, household goods, and motor vehicles on 1. You must reduce each casualty or theft ify.
your federal income tax return. However, you loss by $100 ($100 rule). The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
may not deduct a casualty or theft loss that is (VITA) program offers free tax help to people
covered by insurance unless you filed a timely 2. You must further reduce the total of all who generally make $54,000 or less, persons
insurance claim for reimbursement. Any reim- your losses by 10% of your adjusted gross with disabilities, and limited-English-speaking
bursement you receive will reduce the loss. If income (10% rule). taxpayers who need help preparing their own
you didn’t file an insurance claim, you may de- If your loss arose in the Hurricane Har- tax returns. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly
duct only the part of the loss that was not cov- TIP vey disaster area on or after August 23, (TCE) program offers free tax help for all tax-
ered by insurance. 2017, the Hurricane Irma disaster area payers, particularly those who are 60 years of
on or after September 4, 2017, or the Hurricane age and older. TCE volunteers specialize in an-
Amount of loss. You figure the amount of your Maria disaster area on or after September 16, swering questions about pensions and retire-
loss using the following steps. 2017, and was caused by that hurricane, see ment-related issues unique to seniors.
1. Determine your cost or other basis in the Pub. 976 for more information about disaster You can go to IRS.gov to see your options
property before the casualty or theft. tax relief for those impacted by Hurricanes Har- for preparing and filing your return which in-
vey, Irma, and Maria. clude the following.
2. Determine the decrease in fair market Free File. Go to IRS.gov/FreeFile. See if
value (FMV) of the property as a result of More information. For more information you qualify to use brand-name software to
the casualty or theft. (The decrease in about the deduction limits, see Pub. 547. prepare and e-file your federal tax return
FMV is the difference between the proper- for free.
ty's value immediately before and immedi- When your loss is deductible. You generally VITA. Go to IRS.gov/VITA, download the
ately after the casualty or theft.) must deduct a casualty loss in the year it occur- free IRS2Go app, or call 1-800-906-9887
3. From the smaller of the amounts you de- red. However, if you have a casualty loss from a to find the nearest VITA location for free
termined in (1) and (2), subtract any insur- federally declared disaster that occurred in an tax preparation.
ance or other reimbursement you received area warranting public or individual assistance TCE. Go to IRS.gov/TCE, download the
or expect to receive. (or both), you can elect (choose) to deduct that free IRS2Go app, or call 1-888-227-7669
loss on your return or amended return for the to find the nearest TCE location for free tax
Apply the deduction limits, discussed later, to tax year immediately preceding the tax year in preparation.
determine the amount of your deductible loss. which the loss was sustained. For details, see Getting answers to your tax ques-
Cost or other basis. Cost or other basis Disaster Area Losses in Pub. 547. tions. On IRS.gov get answers to your
usually means original cost plus improvements. tax questions anytime, anywhere.
If you didn’t acquire the property by purchasing
it, your basis is determined as discussed in Comments and Go to IRS.gov/Help or IRS.gov/LetUsHelp
pages for a variety of tools that will help
Pub. 551, Basis of Assets. If you inherited the Suggestions you get answers to some of the most com-
property from someone who died in 2010, and
mon tax questions.
the executor of the decedent's estate made the We welcome your comments about this publi- Go to IRS.gov/ITA for the Interactive Tax
election to file Form 8939, refer to the informa- cation and your suggestions for future editions. Assistant, a tool that will ask you questions
tion provided by the executor or see Pub. 4895,
on a number of tax law topics and provide
Tax Treatment of Property Acquired From a De- You can send us comments through answers. You can print the entire interview
cedent Dying in 2010. IRS.gov/FormComments. Or you can write to: and the final response for your records.
Fair market value. FMV is the price for Go to IRS.gov/Pub17 to get Pub. 17, Your
which you could sell your property to a willing Internal Revenue Service Federal Income Tax for Individuals, which
buyer, when neither of you has to sell or buy Tax Forms and Publications features details on tax-saving opportuni-
and both of you know all the relevant facts. 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 ties, 2017 tax changes, and thousands of
When filling out Schedules 1 through 20, you Washington, DC 20224 interactive links to help you find answers to
need to know the FMV of the property immedi- your questions. View it online in HTML, as
ately before and immediately after the disaster, Although we can’t respond individually to a PDF, or download it to your mobile de-
casualty, or theft. each comment received, we do appreciate your vice as an eBook.
feedback and will consider your comments as You may also be able to access tax law in-
Separate computations. Generally, if a single we revise our tax forms, instructions, and publi- formation in your electronic filing software.
casualty or theft involves more than one item of cations.
property, you must figure the loss on each item
separately. Then combine the losses to deter- Ordering forms and publications. Visit Getting tax forms and publications. Go to
mine the total loss from that casualty or theft. IRS.gov/FormsPubs to download forms and IRS.gov/Forms to view, download, or print all of
publications. Otherwise, you can go to IRS.gov/ the forms and publications you may need. You
Exception for personal-use real prop- OrderForms to order current and prior-year can also download and view popular tax publi-
erty. In figuring a casualty loss on per- forms and instructions. Your order should arrive cations and instructions (including the 1040 in-
sonal-use real property, the entire property within 10 business days. structions) on mobile devices as an eBook at no
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