What is a qualified disaster for taking a casualty loss in 2025?

A disaster loss is a loss that is attributable to a federally declared disaster and that occurs in an area where the president has declared a disaster.

Check the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website  for a list of federally declared disasters.

A qualified disaster loss also includes a person's individual casualty or theft loss due to:

• A major disaster declared by the President under section 401 of the Stafford Act in 2016
• Hurricane Harvey
• Tropical Storm Harvey
• Hurricane Irma
• Hurricane Maria
• The California wildfires in 2017 and January 2018
• A major disaster that was declared by the President under section 401 of the Stafford Act and that occurred in 2018 and before December 21, 2019, and continued no later than January 19, 2020 (except those attributable to the California wildfires in January 2018 that received prior relief)
• A major disaster that was declared by the President between January 1, 2020, and September 2, 2025 (inclusive). However, in order to qualify under this expansion, the major disaster must have an incident period beginning between December 28, 2019, and July 4, 2025 (and must have ended no later than August 3, 2025). Note that losses don't include anything attributable to any major disaster which has been declared only due to COVID-19.

If you suffered a qualified disaster loss, you are eligible to claim a casualty loss deduction, to elect to claim the loss in the preceding tax year, and to deduct the loss without itemizing other deductions.

For more information on disaster tax relief, see the IRS website .