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the fair market value of the property immediately before the
casualty reduced by the fair market value of the property
immediately after the casualty; or (2) the amount of the adjusted
basis for determining the loss from the sale or other disposition
of the property involved. A "casualty" is an event due to some
sudden, unexpected, or unusual cause, such as a fire, storm, or
shipwreck. Durden v. Commissioner, 3 T.C. 1, 3 (1944).
The only evidence petitioner offered regarding the casualty
loss deduction claimed in 1990 was an affidavit of Tex Mayhall,
in which Mr. Mayhall states that the damage to petitioner's
automobile occurred due to an absence or an insufficient amount
of antifreeze in the automobile. The affidavit further states
that Mr. Mayhall salvaged the automobile for $50 and notified
petitioner about the salvage approximately 3 months later when
petitioner called to ask about the automobile. We have long held
that in order for an event to constitute a casualty, the event
must involve the application of a destructive force which must be
the proximate cause of the loss. See White v. Commissioner, 48
T.C. 430 (1967). Petitioner's loss, if any, did not embody the
requisite element of "chance, accident, or contingency", see
Powers v. Commissioner, 36 T.C. 1191, 1193 (1961) (quoting
Bachofen von Echt v. Commissioner, 21 B.T.A. 702, 709 (1930)),
and is, therefore, no more than a personal expense to petitioner
as a result of petitioner's neglect. Further, even if this were
to be considered as a casualty loss, petitioner has offered no
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