Okay, I'm sitting down to do our taxes. At the start of 2008 we were renting a home owned by my MIL. It burned down on April 20th of 2008. The house and 90% of the contents were a complete loss.
Lesson learned here- but the house was not zoned as rental property. So, we could not get renters insurance. My MIL did have insurance on the home, and she was reimbursed for the loss of the structure. So, our entire contents (pretty much our entire lives) were lost in that fire.
The Red Cross helped us out a little bit. In addition to that they gave me literature to make a list of everything in the house we were not reimbursed for because it was deductible on our taxes. I just got to that part on my taxes.
So I have 2 questions:
1.) The Red Cross gave us alittle over $400 in vouchers to Target to get shoes and clothing. They also gave us a $95 voucher to get personal items (toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, ect) to a local grocery store. Do I claim these as income?
2.)Second, we lost EVERYTHING. All clothing, shoe's, appliances, Furniture, electronics, basic household things like towels, dishes, lamps, ect. We also lost the contents of the attached garage- all my husbands tools, lawnmower, weed whacker, ect. On the tax form it asks for the item name, price paid, and date bought........they really want each and every item listed individually? Since the fire I obviously do not have receipts for every item purchased nor the exact dates. What I do have is the copies of reports from the fire inspectors and police. I also have a copy of the report from her insurance company. The took inventory of the contents and valued them, but they were of course deemed non-reimbursable because they were ours not her's. Would that justify as proof for the IRS if needed?
Any help would be great, thanks!
Lesson learned here- but the house was not zoned as rental property. So, we could not get renters insurance. My MIL did have insurance on the home, and she was reimbursed for the loss of the structure. So, our entire contents (pretty much our entire lives) were lost in that fire.
The Red Cross helped us out a little bit. In addition to that they gave me literature to make a list of everything in the house we were not reimbursed for because it was deductible on our taxes. I just got to that part on my taxes.
So I have 2 questions:
1.) The Red Cross gave us alittle over $400 in vouchers to Target to get shoes and clothing. They also gave us a $95 voucher to get personal items (toothbrush, deodorant, shampoo, ect) to a local grocery store. Do I claim these as income?
2.)Second, we lost EVERYTHING. All clothing, shoe's, appliances, Furniture, electronics, basic household things like towels, dishes, lamps, ect. We also lost the contents of the attached garage- all my husbands tools, lawnmower, weed whacker, ect. On the tax form it asks for the item name, price paid, and date bought........they really want each and every item listed individually? Since the fire I obviously do not have receipts for every item purchased nor the exact dates. What I do have is the copies of reports from the fire inspectors and police. I also have a copy of the report from her insurance company. The took inventory of the contents and valued them, but they were of course deemed non-reimbursable because they were ours not her's. Would that justify as proof for the IRS if needed?
Any help would be great, thanks!
