Lessons on Casualty Losses From the O.J. Case and Others

Most of you probably don't think tax law qualifies as a good read.

And the Tax Court does indeed rule on some mind-numbing minutiae. But it also serves as a highly entertaining record of what taxpayers try to get away with -- and often do get away with.

The tax code allows you to claim casualty and theft losses that are not covered by insurance as an itemized deduction. And it's in the gray area of what constitutes a casualty loss that makes for some good Tax Court reading. The Internal Revenue Service has disallowed many a casualty loss under its strict definition, while the Tax Court has often proved more generous. (These cases come courtesy of the ubiquitous J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2003.) ...