- 41 -
amount towards repairing the brick damage or installing the vinyl
siding. Petitioners failed to introduce any invoices or other
documents to establish the amount of loss covered by insurance.
Petitioners’ failure to introduce such documents, which were in
all likelihood in their possession and which, if accurate, would
be favorable to them, gives rise to the presumption that if
produced, the insurance invoices would be unfavorable. See
Wichita Terminal Elevator Co. v. Commissioner, 6 T.C. 1158, 1165
(1946), affd. 162 F.2d 513 (10th Cir. 1947).
4. Losses in Value, If Any, Caused by Casualties
Petitioners failed to introduce sufficiently credible
evidence of the amount of casualty losses, if any, to the Atmore
residence or the beach lot as a result of the natural disasters.
We will not apply the cost of repairs method to any of
petitioners’ claimed casualty losses because petitioners
introduced no evidence of the cost of repairs and did not claim
any damages using the cost of repairs method.11
The amount of the casualty loss from a partial destruction
of property is the lesser of the taxpayers’ adjusted basis of
their property or the difference in their property’s fair market
11Even if petitioners had introduced evidence of the cost of
installing vinyl siding, petitioners’ precautionary measure of
covering the exterior brick with vinyl siding to avoid a possible
casualty at a future date is not deductible as a casualty loss.
See Austin v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 1334, 1337 (1980).
Page: Previous 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 NextLast modified: May 25, 2011