Loss on Deposits

A loss on deposits can occur when a bank, credit union, or other financial institution becomes insolvent or bankrupt. If you incurred this type of loss, you can choose one of the following ways to deduct the loss.

• As a casualty loss.
• As an ordinary loss.
• As a nonbusiness bad debt.

Casualty loss or ordinary loss. You can choose to deduct a loss on deposits as a casualty loss or as an ordinary loss for any year in which you can reasonably estimate how much of your deposits you have lost in an insolvent or bankrupt financial institution. The choice generally is made on the return you file for that year and applies to all your losses on deposits for the year in that particular financial institution. If you treat the loss as a casualty or ordinary loss, you cannot treat the same amount of the loss as a nonbusiness bad debt when it actually becomes worthless. Once you make the choice, you cannot change it without permission from the Internal Revenue Service.

Nonbusiness bad debt. If you do not choose to deduct the loss as a casualty loss or as an ordinary loss, you must wait until the actual loss is determined before you can deduct the loss as a nonbusiness bad debt.

How to report. The kind of deduction you choose for your loss on deposits determines how you report your loss. See Table 1.

More information. For more information, see Special Treatment for Losses on Deposits in Insolvent or Bankrupt Financial Institutions in the instructions for Form 4684.

Deducted loss recovered. If you recover an amount you deducted as a loss in an earlier year, you may have to include the amount recovered in your income for the year of recovery. If any part of the original deduction did not reduce your tax in the earlier year, you do not have to include that part of the recovery in your income. For more information, see Recoveries in Publication 525.

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