Sunday, November 5, 2017

CRUEL CONGRESS STEALS CASUALTY LOSS DEDUCTION



CRUEL CONGRESS STEALS CASUALTY LOSS DEDUCTION

I have never used this forum to editorialize. But I believe it is necessary now to take a stand.

2017 Republican Income Tax proposal includes a cruel provision. The tax bill eliminates the deduction for personal casualty and theft losses.

The deduction does not cost the Treasury much in any one year, but it is a real life-saver to those taxpayers who have experienced major losses. In many of these situations no insurance is even available to pay for the loss. In other cases, because the only insurance available is a government supported program, the coverage is very limited.

In 2014, the personal casualty and theft loss deduction probably cost the Treasury less than one billion dollars out of a four trillion dollar budget, (0.025%), a very small impact on the U. S, Budget, but it provides affected taxpayers with real assistance.

I recommend all taxpayers contact their Congressperson and ask them to remove the elimination of IRC Section 165 (c) (3). You may never use the deduction, but we need to think of those who will need it to survive a catastrophic loss.

Maybe by denying the deduction, Congress can continue to deny climate change.