The IRS has created tools and information for Tax Professionals aimed at dealing with the various disasters that have struck our city and county in this past years. Below are some of the key points

*First, if your insurance company has not provided you with a check list to try and reconstruct every room in your house, you can get Publication 584B from the IRS and it will give you a room by room list.

*It’s fairly easy to come up with the basis for the cost of your home, along with any improvements over the years. However, the hardest part is determining the value of your personal effects lost in the disaster. How much is the Hummel collection worth, baseball cards, coins, old records or collectibles? Did you ever take a video of the inside of your home?

*Getting copies of past tax returns is fairly easy using the Power of Attorney (POA) Form 2848 with a Tax Preparer. The hard part is properly filling out the Form 4684-Casualities and Thefts, so that YOU get the best tax assistance.

The tax laws do allow you to go back to prior year tax returns; however there are a lot of pros and cons as to why you really want to do that. The biggest question you must answer for yourself is, do I want the IRS to be looking into an old timely filed tax return for ANY reason? Even if you are squeaky clean you may be letting the IRS open your old return for review and now you have to spend the time to prove that you’re still right in what you claimed 3 years ago. Because of my specialized training I can help you navigate these tricky waters.

Please call me if you would like some assistance in this area.

Terrance Smith

3511 Camino Del Rio South #102 San Diego 92108 call 619-283-8055