FEDERAL INCOME TAXES
If you itemize deductions on page two
jof Form 1040, you can deduct losses of
iyour personal property resulting from a
I fire, storm, flood, automobile accident,
ihurricane, or other similar event. You
|can also deduct losses of money or other
:personal property due to theft in the —
|year of discovery,but you may not deduct
!losses due to losing or mislaying artic
les.
A deductible casualty loss can result
[from complete or partial destruction of
iproperty but generally speaking, must
iresuit from an identifiable event of a
ystfdden, unexpected, or unusual nature.
™ Damage to your own car resulting from
|a collision or accident can be deducted
lonly if not due to your willful negli
igence or willful act.
You cannot deduct amounts you pay for
[damage to the owner of another car with
jwhich you may have collided.
On personal, nonbusiness property,
ithe amount of loss to be duducted is the
jdifference between the value of the
:property just before the casulty and
ithe value just after.
The deductible loss can be no more
[than the cost of the property and must
ibe reduced by any insurance or other
jcompensation received. You may not de
duct the cost of repairing, replacing
gleaning up after thecasualty.
However, if the repairs do no more
ithan restore the property to its condi
tion immediately before the casualty,
|and do not add to its value, utility, or
juseful like, such repair costs may be
[used as a measure of the decrease in
lvalue.
You should attach a statement to your
ireturn giving the details on any deduc
tion taken for casualty or theft loss.
Some of the loss items for which you
[cannot claim a deduction ar-3J
•Personal injury to yourself or an
other person.
.Accidental loss of cash or other -
[personal property.
•Damage due to rust or gradual erosion.
•Animals or plants damaged or destro
yed by disease,
•Property lost in storage or in tran
sit, (afps).
\ Four out of every ten American sold
iers are overseas in some 75 nations
and other locations of the free world.
A SERIOUS BUSINESS
Anyone who pooh-poohs the importance
of safety procedures might consider what
happened recently after a jet fighterr
ran into trouble '40,000, feet up on a
routine flight.
The plane suddenly became hard to con
trol, The ailerons didn't respond pro
perly.
The pilot brought the plane down
safely, and an on-the-spot inspection
was held. The plane had just been thro
ugh an IRAN (inspect and repair as nec
essary) line, but under the floorboard
were several screws, washers, light bulbs
and a pencil. One washer appeared to
have been stuck in the aileron controls.
Twenty-three other planes were iamied
iately grounded and inspected, in nine
of the planes, inspectors found items
ranging from washers to a box-end wrench
In one plane, the seat ejection initiator
wasn't connected.
Just little things, it might be said,
but a man killed by a little thing isn't
any less dead,-(AFPS)
Rhymes of the Times
Receipt'for suicide:
To one slick roacl
Add' one fast ride.