I have a situation where two individuals used the company card to take out about $30k in cash over a year period. In one case, the only support I have are the bank withdraws and a lawsuit against the person. In the second case, the person admitted via email to have "mismanaged the ATM" to the tune of about $15k. There is a lawsuit in this case too. Can either of these losses be deducted from my income tax for that year? Thanks!
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: California Already Tried: Online research.
This is certainly a grey area. The burden of proof is on you. Embezzlement is certainly a tax deduction. If you are filing charges, though, that would be your proof. In either case, if the chances of collecting the money is slim,. you may want to consider as a settlement treating the money as compensation and reporting the "income" to them on a 1099-MISC. In exchange for doing this, you would pretty much have to give up collecting the money.
By the way, if you deduct this as embezzlement and ever get the money back, it would be taxable income to you since you previously deducted the loss.
Hi, there. I see you are in chat. Thanks for such an interesting tax question. I'm sorry what happened, though. Pretty crappy.
The part about forgiving the lost money is fine. The question gets a bit more complicated.
The business was a sole proprietorship outside the USA and I am amending the return for 2010. Can a 1099 be issued for the US LLC that had sent the money to the foreign proprietorship where the theft occurred or how should I report this loss of $? Is the lawsuit, the CPA audit (showing a figure) of lost money and the bank statements showing the withdraws enough to deduct?
Hmmm...just a second...
Are you a US Citizen filing a 1040?
First off, I would agree that CPA audit, the law suit and bank statements should be enough. Embezzlement is definitely a deduction.
Yes
And the amount the CPA audite resulted in would be the amount being deducted I would assume? The lawsuit was for a higher amount.
The 1099 was just an "extra layer of comfort", but there is a law that says you aren't supposed to issue a 1099 incorrectly. So, I would only
issue a 1099 with the recipients blessing as part of a compromise. ("I drop the lawsuit, but I am issuing you a 1099")
Once again, you don't have to go that route. In fact, it could be a fall back if the IRS objects to your amended return.
They were not working for the USA company - they were working for my sole proprietorship outside the USA, so could a 1099 still be issued?
Right, the deduction is only for the actual theft.
A 1099 could be issued if they have US SSNs or ITINs. Otherwise, you can't.
ok. Got it.
Thank you very much for your help.
Please feel free to ask for me if you want to follow up on this.
Experience: Tax Problem Solver extraordinare. I address IRS Notices, Liens, Levies, audits, etc.