I suffered property loss (contents, not house) due to Hurricane Harvey above and beyond my flood insurance coverage. Given the tax law changes around Harvey in December 2017 I know I can deduct most of that surplus amount of loss, even with a standard deduction (which I usually take).
A few questions:
Can I deduct ancillary expenses to the disaster, like staying in a hotel room, moving expenses out of my old home and into my new one, storage expenses? Or can I only deduct actual flood losses?
Can I use the insurance assessor's summary of the lost amount, which shows their estimate of the total amount lost, plus the amount of what they reimbursed me? In other words, can I enter a single line summarizing the loss, backed up by the insurance assessor's multipage summary of the lost contents? Or do I need to enter each item (there are hundreds) line by line in Form 4684?
Will I no longer be able to electronically file my return? H&R Block Tax Cut appears to be saying I have to print out my return.
Thank you!
