My house was involved in a tornado in tax year 2008. It was declared an official disaster area by FEMA. This question pertains to only the items that were destroyed in the house. My insurance company and I performed a very detail listing of everything that was destroyed or missing after the tornado. I did not have replacement insurance so I was only entitled to the depreciated amount. So, my question is: Can I use as a deduction the different between the FMV and the depreciated amount? This is 15% per item. So, if I can, do I need to list out everything, or can I use a generic listing such as "house hold" items? There are over 500 items that were destroyed or missing.
Thanks,
JJ