Don't Be the Victim of a Disaster
In
our practice of assisting people who have experienced a disaster with tax
issues, financial, physical and emotional recovery, we call our clients just
that: “people who have experienced a disaster.” We purposefully do not use the
“V-----” word when referring to people who have experienced a disaster. Using
the “V” word is apt to make them “a person who is deceived or cheated, as by
his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal
agency.” This definition of the word victim suggests that the person is helpless,
without resources to recover or control of their environment.
As one who has “experienced a disaster,” you have been involved in a tragic situation and may be traumatized. You are called upon to use all of your energy and resilience to assist yourself in your recovery.
Our
hope for you as you read the numerous entries in this blog is that you will
find information that is helpful in that process. In my personal experience of
the 1994 Northridge Earthquake I quickly realized that I had to take charge of my own recovery. I
educated myself and listened. I acted in small steps and when I needed to I brought
into my network others who had also experienced the disaster. Together, we accomplished
what everyone said was impossible. We had a successful recovery and we provided
assistance to thousands of others in their recovery process.
If
you think you are a “V” you place yourself on a stretcher waiting for someone
to come by and assist you. Believe me, there is always someone else who needs
help before you. Only by taking your recovery into your own hand will you be
successful. Yes, finding others to provide assistance and expertise is
important; but again, you have to take the steps to build that team.
Yes
there are truly victims in many disasters. The 250,000 people who died in the
Haitian Earthquake were victims. The people who are still displaced in Haiti,
years after the earthquake are victims. But, if you walked away from you
damaged home in an earthquake, a fire, a hurricane, if your family is together,
if your biggest aggravation is fighting with an insurance company over your
damage and coverage, you need your resilience, you don’t have time to be a
victim!
We
wish you the best in your recovery process. We are available to assist you
through the complexities of the tax implications of the recovery process.
This first entry in this blog,
April 2008 has been revised in April 2013.
This blog,
“AccountantForDisasterRecovery.com” has been addressing taxpayer income tax
issues related to catastrophic losses for five years
All rights to reproduce or quote
any part of the chapter in any other publication are reserved by the author.
Republication rights limited by the publisher of the book in which this chapter
appears also apply.
JOHN
TRAPANI
|
||
Certified
Public Accountant
|
||
2975
E. Hillcrest Drive #403
|
||
Thousand
Oaks, CA 91362
|
||
(805)
497-4411
|
||
Contact us through our website at:
|
||
Blog:
www.AccountantForDisasteRrecovery.com
|
||
It All Adds Up For You
|
||
This material was contributed by John
Trapani. A Certified Public Accountant who has assisted taxpayers since 1976,
in analyzing and reporting transactions of the type covered in this material.
© 2013, John Trapani, CPA,
