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.
