Per Diem Rates from the U.S. General Services Administration

Search by city, state or ZIP code, or by clicking on the map. You can also use the new per diem tool to calculate trip allowances

Rates are set by fiscal year, effective October 1 each year. Find current rates in the continental United States ("CONUS Rates").

Per Diem Rates

Can I Deduct a Loss in My IRA?

---

A loss on a traditional IRA or Roth IRA can no longer be deducted after 2017.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the deduction for miscellaneous itemized deductions, which, prior to January 1, 2018, were subject to the 2% of adjusted gross income limitation. Traditional and Roth IRA losses were included in this category of deduction prior to 2018.

The following information applies to pre-2018 rules:

Basis-

You must have a tax basis to deduct a loss. So, how do you know if you have a tax basis in your IRA account?

Traditional IRAs-

Contributions to traditional IRAs are generally PRE-TAX contributions, and therefore, no tax basis exists in the account. This means All withdrawals are subject to taxes, regardless of the amount of value lost in the account.

There is an exception. If you made non-deductible contributions to your traditional IRA, you would have basis in your traditional IRA account. Basis would be the sum of all non-deductible contributions in the account. But in reality, most people don't make non-deductible contributions to their traditional IRAs.

Roth IRA Loss Deduction Rules 2017 and Prior-

Contributions to your Roth are AFTER-TAX contributions. Since your contributions have already been taxed, the balance in the account represents your basis in the account.

In the future, if you close your Roth account and your withdrawal is LESS than your BASIS in the account, you have a loss.

For example, if your Roth account balance on December 31, 2016 is $10,000, and the account balance on December 31, 2017 is $6,000, and you close the account and withdraw the entire $6,000, you would have a $4,000 loss.

Now the question is, how do I deduct my Roth IRA loss?

Rules for Deducting a Loss in a Roth IRA Account (2017 and prior):

1. If you have one or more Roth IRA accounts, you must close ALL the accounts, even if one or more of them has a profit.
2. All the funds in all your Roth accounts must be distributed to you. In other words, you must actually receive the funds; you cannot deduct a paper loss. If you happen to have a traditional IRA in addition to your Roth IRA, you only have to close the Roth IRA and NOT the traditional IRA. The traditional IRA is treated separately.
3. You must itemize your deductions on Schedule A.
4. You deduct the loss on Schedule A as a Miscellaneous Deduction and subtract 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) from the loss. The remaining amount is your deduction.

Example-

• Your AGI is $50,000.
• The loss in your Roth account is $4,000.
• You subtract $1,000 (2% x $50,000) from the $4,000 loss
• You claim a Miscellaneous Deduction of $3,000 on Schedule A