TaxGuided
United States IRC sections

Statute section

IRC section 165

Losses

Country

United States

Section

165

Updated

2026-05-20

Operative text

Section 165 allows a deduction for losses sustained during the tax year that are not compensated by insurance or otherwise. Section 165(c) restricts personal losses to those incurred in a trade or business, transactions entered into for profit, and casualty or theft losses (with the TCJA further limiting personal casualty losses to federally declared disaster areas for 2018 through 2025).

Amendment history

2017-12-22

Pub. L. 115-97

TCJA limited personal casualty losses to federally declared disaster areas through 2025.

Cross-references

26 U.S.C. 17226 U.S.C. 1231

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